heterologous
Americanadjective
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Biology. of different origin; pertaining to heterology.
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Medicine/Medical, Pathology. consisting of dissimilar tissue, as that of another species or that of a tumor.
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Immunology. pertaining to an antigen that elicits a reaction in a nonspecific antibody.
adjective
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pathol of, relating to, or designating cells or tissues not normally present in a particular part of the body
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(esp of parts of an organism or of different organisms) differing in structure or origin
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heterologous
1815–25; hetero- + -logous ( see -logy ( def. ), -ous ( def. ) )
Explanation
Heterologous tissue in an organism is tissue that is foreign or taken from a different species. For example, a pig’s heart valve, transplanted into a human, is heterologous. But so are the cells of a tumor, because they’re foreign organic material. There’s another meaning of heterologous in biology. Heterologous structures in different species are structures that don't have the same evolutionary origin. For example, even though a bird's wing and mosquito's wing are both used for flying and have a similar position on the body, they're heterologous, because they developed along separate evolutionary paths. Heterologous uses the combining form hetero-, meaning "different" or "other," from the Greek heteros.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A. nidulans has been modified by researchers to be a model fungal species for this technique, dubbed "heterologous expression."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2023
Many fungus strains have been used and selected by the food industry for their capacities to ferment, produce flavors or produce heterologous molecules.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2023
One of the first authorized heterologous prime-boost vaccines for any disease is the Sputnik V vaccine, developed last year by Russian researchers to prevent COVID-19.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 19, 2021
GOUNDER: We need to talk more about heterologous prime-boost: An adenovirus vaccine followed by an mRNA or adenovirus followed by a protein vaccine—we may well be headed in that direction.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 20, 2021
Furthermore, the magnitudes of the reactions between the antiserum and the heterologous antigens vary according to the degrees of similarity of these antigens to the homologous one.
From Myology and Serology of the Avian Family Fringillidae A Taxonomic Study by Stallcup, William B.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
