bio-assay
7.3
A scientific test that measures how a substance affects living things compared to a known standard
- noun
- /ˈbaɪoʊəˌseɪ/
- Specialized
:
bioensayo
- To assess the safety of the vaccine, a comprehensive bio-assay was performed using different cell cultures.
Examples
-
Before approving the new pesticide, the scientists performed a bio-assay to test its impact on local wildlife.
-
So what is being used by a great majority of our community doesn't have any relationship to in vitro bio assay outcomes.
-
The researchers conducted a bio-assay to determine the effect of the new drug on cancer cells.
Synonyms
8
7.7
A test that finds what a substance contains or how pure it is
is limited to tests measuring biological activity on living organisms
1
8.7
A test that checks how a substance affects living things
is written as one word without a hyphen in modern usage
Surface Forms
bio-assay singular
bio-assays plural
Morphology
Etymology
Bio-assay breaks into bio- meaning 'life', like in biology, and assay meaning 'test', from an old French word for 'trial' and related to essay, which once meant 'to try'. So a bio-assay is a 'life-test' that uses living things to measure what a substance does.