Biologic Health Dictionary

Use of natural, indigenous predators or organisms to control medically important insects.... biological control

The use of living organisms – or infectious agents derived from them – to disable or kill men, animals or plants in the pursuit of war. Such warfare, along with chemical warfare, was condemned in 1925 by the Geneva Convention, and the United Nations has endorsed this policy. Even so, some countries have experimented with possible biological agents, including those causing ANTHRAX and BOTULISM, with the intention of delivering them by land, sea or water-based missiles. These developments have prompted other countries to search for ways of annulling the lethal consequences of biological warfare.... biological warfare

A popular term for the inherent timing mechanism that supposedly controls physiological processes and cycles in living organisms. (See also biorhythms.)... biological clock

(BRM) a therapeutic agent, such as *interferon or *interleukin, that influences the body’s defence mechanisms to act against infection and disease. In small amounts, these substances are produced naturally by the body; larger doses have been genetically developed for use against rheumatoid arthritis, hepatitis, and cancer (especially melanoma and renal cancer).... biological response modifier

any treatment that facilitates the ability of the immune system to fight disease, as opposed to acting directly against the disease (compare chemotherapy; radiotherapy). Such treatments, most commonly used for cancer and rheumatic disease, include *biological response modifiers, *immunotherapy, *monoclonal antibodies, *cytokine inhibitors and modulators, and *targeted agents.... biological therapy

(in dentistry) the combined width of the *junctional epithelium and connective tissue attachment around the root surface of a tooth: in other words, the distance between the deepest point of the gingival sulcus and the *alveolus. Dental restorations must respect this natural dimension if harmful consequences are to be avoided.... biologic width