biochemistry

English

Etymology

From bio- +‎ chemistry.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌbaɪəʊˈkɛmɪstɹi/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Noun

biochemistry (countable and uncountable, plural biochemistries)

  2. (uncountable) The chemistry of those compounds that occur in living organisms, and the processes that occur in their metabolism and catabolism; the study of such chemistry.
    Alternative form: biochem (informal clipping)
    My aunt has a degree in biochemistry.
  3. (countable) The chemical characteristics of a particular living organism.
    The biochemistries of fungal and bacterial cells are quite distinct.
    • 2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 146:
      They [viruses] use more varied biochemistry than cellular life, storing their genetic information as both single- and double-stranded DNA as well as RNA.
  4. (countable) The biochemical activity associated with a particular chemical or condition.
    Our study compared the biochemistries of epilepsy and Parkinson's.
    The biochemistry of NO differs from that of NO2.

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