also serve as a non-tariff barrier on the export of future bio products. The second
issue concerns intellectual property rights in connection with technology
transfer. While the provisions mentioned the transferring of technology
necessary for diversity preservation, they also included language about
respecting intellectual property rights. European countries and the U.S. signed
on after declaring their interpretation that technology transfers would not extend
as far as disregarding intellectual property rights; other countries refused
outright. The focus now is shifting to the question of what kind of technology
transfer organization is to be created. The third issue concerns the rights of
farmers. This includes the rights of farmers in developing countries who have
contributed to the preservation and usage of plant gene resources. Developing
countries are demanding an international fund be created to distribute the profits
earned by advanced economies. The issue was initially addressed by the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO), but was later taken up with the
Biodiversity Convention. Advanced economies are very likely to face payment
obligations.
Biofuel Gas such as methane or liquid fuel such as ethanol (ethyl alcohol) made
from organic waste material, usually by microbial action.
Bioinformatics Discipline and methodology involving the use of computers to
analyze biological data. This approach uses methods derived from statistics,
linguistics, mathematics, chemistry, and biochemistry. It often involves
structural data and data on nucleic acid and protein sequences; experimental
findings from the data are also analyzed. Some data are taken from patient
statistics and scientific papers. Bioinformatics research is focused on storage,
searching, and analysis of data.
Biological assay The use of the amount of some substance that is essential or
detrimental to organismal functions besides survival and growth as an indicator
for said phenomena. It is often convenient to use substances that are effective in
terms of growth or expression of functions even in very small amounts (such as
vitamins and several other growth factors and hormones) as direct indicators for
biological effects, rather than resorting to chemical means.
Biological half-life The number of elements and radioactive isotopes within an
organism’s tissues and organs decreases as a result of metabolism and excretion.
The half-life is the time required for the initial amount of radioactive isotopes to
decrease by half through these processes.
Biological pump The process by which some of the organic materials produced by
marine phytoplankton are transported to deep ocean sediments, where they
remain for thousands of years
Biological soil crust The community of organism including bacteria,
cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, fungi, lichens, and mosses that covers much
of the soil surface in arid and semiarid lands.
424
Glossary
issue concerns intellectual property rights in connection with technology
transfer. While the provisions mentioned the transferring of technology
necessary for diversity preservation, they also included language about
respecting intellectual property rights. European countries and the U.S. signed
on after declaring their interpretation that technology transfers would not extend
as far as disregarding intellectual property rights; other countries refused
outright. The focus now is shifting to the question of what kind of technology
transfer organization is to be created. The third issue concerns the rights of
farmers. This includes the rights of farmers in developing countries who have
contributed to the preservation and usage of plant gene resources. Developing
countries are demanding an international fund be created to distribute the profits
earned by advanced economies. The issue was initially addressed by the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO), but was later taken up with the
Biodiversity Convention. Advanced economies are very likely to face payment
obligations.
Biofuel Gas such as methane or liquid fuel such as ethanol (ethyl alcohol) made
from organic waste material, usually by microbial action.
Bioinformatics Discipline and methodology involving the use of computers to
analyze biological data. This approach uses methods derived from statistics,
linguistics, mathematics, chemistry, and biochemistry. It often involves
structural data and data on nucleic acid and protein sequences; experimental
findings from the data are also analyzed. Some data are taken from patient
statistics and scientific papers. Bioinformatics research is focused on storage,
searching, and analysis of data.
Biological assay The use of the amount of some substance that is essential or
detrimental to organismal functions besides survival and growth as an indicator
for said phenomena. It is often convenient to use substances that are effective in
terms of growth or expression of functions even in very small amounts (such as
vitamins and several other growth factors and hormones) as direct indicators for
biological effects, rather than resorting to chemical means.
Biological half-life The number of elements and radioactive isotopes within an
organism’s tissues and organs decreases as a result of metabolism and excretion.
The half-life is the time required for the initial amount of radioactive isotopes to
decrease by half through these processes.
Biological pump The process by which some of the organic materials produced by
marine phytoplankton are transported to deep ocean sediments, where they
remain for thousands of years
Biological soil crust The community of organism including bacteria,
cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, fungi, lichens, and mosses that covers much
of the soil surface in arid and semiarid lands.
424
Glossary