All articles starting with B

Biotic index

A biotic index is an ecological metric that assesses environmental condition from the biological community sampled at a site, best known through the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index for water quality.

Biotic ligand model

The biotic ligand model (BLM) is an equilibrium model predicting metal toxicity to aquatic organisms from water chemistry, used for US copper and EU nickel criteria.

Biotin (vitamin B7, vitamin H) is a water-soluble B vitamin and coenzyme for five carboxylases in fat, glucose, and amino acid metabolism. AI 30 µg/day, no upper limit; deficiency rare; high doses interfere with lab immunoassays.

Oct 20, 2026

Biotin deficiency

Biotin deficiency (vitamin B7 deficiency), including biotinidase deficiency, causes hair loss, rash, and neurologic symptoms; caused by raw egg whites, TPN, anticonvulsants, or inherited BTD defects.

Biotin synthase

Biotin synthase (BioB, bioB gene) is the radical SAM enzyme catalyzing the final step of vitamin B7 biosynthesis, inserting sulfur from a [2Fe-2S] cluster into dethiobiotin; anaerobic Type II BioB uses a [4Fe-5S] cluster instead.

Biotin-thiamine-responsive basal ganglia disease

Biotin-thiamine-responsive basal ganglia disease (BTBGD), also called thiamine transporter-2 deficiency, is a rare autosomal recessive disorder from SLC19A3 mutations, causing episodic encephalopathy and movement problems in childhood, reversible with high-dose biotin and thiamine.

Oct 22, 2026

Biotin–streptavidin artificial metalloenzyme with Rh catalyst

A biotin–streptavidin artificial metalloenzyme with rhodium catalyst is a hybrid catalyst in which biotin anchors an organorhodium complex inside streptavidin, first reported by Wilson and Whitesides in 1978 for asymmetric hydrogenation.

Biotinidase

Biotinidase (EC 3.5.1.12), enzyme recycling the vitamin biotin by cleaving biocytin; encoded by BTD. Its inherited autosomal recessive deficiency causes seizures, rash, and acidosis, treatable with biotin and detectable by newborn screening.

Biotinidase deficiency

Biotinidase deficiency, also called late-onset multiple carboxylase deficiency or BTD deficiency, is an autosomal recessive disorder of biotin recycling caused by BTD gene variants, treated with lifelong oral biotin and detected by newborn screening.

Biotinylation

Biotinylation is the covalent attachment of the vitamin biotin to proteins, nucleic acids, or other molecules so they can be captured, detected, or mapped through binding to streptavidin.

Biotique

Biotique is an Indian beauty and personal care brand making natural and ayurvedic skin, hair, make-up, and baby products, founded by Vinita Jain in 1992 and based in Noida.

Biotite

Biotite, also known as black mica, is the group name for dark, iron-rich mica minerals occurring widely in igneous and metamorphic rocks such as granite and gneiss.

Biotope

Biotope: an ecological term coined by Friedrich Dahl in 1908, originally the abiotic conditions of a biocenosis, now meaning habitat plus associated community, used in European marine classification and management.

Biotrack Capital

Biotrack Capital is a Shanghai-based venture capital firm founded in 2017 that invests in healthcare companies in China, including biotech, medtech, and digital health startups, with funds raised in both US dollars and renminbi.

BioTrack trial

BioTrack (NCT03104387) is a Danish controlled crossover trial in which 29 healthy volunteers rode diesel versus electric trains 6 hours daily for three days, showing reduced lung function, increased PBMC DNA strand breaks, and altered heart rate variability.

Biotransformation

Biotransformation: enzymatic or whole-cell conversion of a substrate into a product, independent of cell metabolism; used industrially (acrylamide, chiral pharmaceuticals) and in drug metabolism (Phase I and II reactions).

Biotrickling filter

A biotrickling filter is an air pollution control device that removes odors, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and VOCs from gas streams using microorganisms on a packed bed.

Biotrophy-associated secreted protein 2, conserved domain

BAS2 conserved domain: a small cysteine-rich secreted protein domain (six conserved Cys, ~102 aa) from biotrophy-associated secreted proteins of Magnaporthe oryzae and Colletotrichum, involved in biotrophic invasion and penetration.

Oct 15, 2026

Bioturbation

Bioturbation is the reworking of soils and sediments by living organisms through particle mixing and bioirrigation, a process Charles Darwin first quantified in his 1881 study of earthworms.

BioVasc trial

BIOVASC (NCT03621501) trial: randomized 1,525 ACS patients with multivessel disease to immediate versus staged complete revascularization; immediate was non-inferior at 1 year (7.6% vs 9.4%) with fewer MIs and unplanned revascularizations.

BioVentrix

BioVentrix, formerly CHF Technologies, is a Mansfield, Massachusetts medical device company developing the Revivent System, a minimally invasive therapy that reshapes the heart's left ventricle in heart failure.