Supplementary reading

artificial selection the purposeful breeding of certain traits over others.

autotroph an organism that is able to synthesise the organic materials it requires from inorganic substances in its environment.

biotechnology the application of living organisms, or substances made from them, to make products of value to humans.

capsid the protein coat of a virus.

cell a very small unit of living matter.

cell culture growing cells or tissues in a laboratory, or on an appropriate nutrient medium.

chemoautotroph  an organism which uses carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon and inorganic chemicals as its source of energy.

chitin a tough resistant polysaccharide which is a component of some fungal cell walls.

class the second highest group into which animals and plants are divided, below a Phylum and including several orders.

clone a group of genetically identical organisms or cells which are all descended asexually from the same individual.