bioassay

[bahy-oh-uh-sey, -as-ey, bahy-oh-uh-sey]

noun

1. determination of the biological activity or potency of a substance, as a vitamin or hormone, by testing its effect on the growth of an organism.

verb (used with object)

bioassayed, bioassaying 

1. to subject to a bioassay.

bioassay

noun

1. a method of determining the concentration, activity, or effect of a change to substance by testing its effect on a living organism and comparing this with the activity of an agreed standard

verb

1. (tr) to subject to a bioassay

bioassay

1. Determination of the relative purity of a substance, such as a drug or hormone, by comparing its effects with those of a standard preparation on a culture of living cells or a test organism.

2. A test used to determine such purity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bioassay¹

First recorded in 1910–15; bio(logical) + assay

Example Sentences

The students interpreted the bacterium's bioassay data and concluded it had antibiotic activity and produced a never-before-seen compound.

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So now I had a working bioassay, the essential step in biological experimentation.

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The affinity-selection mass spectrometry bioassay is then used to rank the affinity of the reaction products to target proteins, removing the need for time-intensive reaction purification.

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A round of worker of bioassay tests conducted in the summer found contamination in 31 people.

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After a June contamination incident, bioassay tests indicated that 31 workers inhaled or ingested small amounts of radioactive substances.

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