Glossary

B

Biobank

A biobank collects, processes and stores biospecimens under clearly regulated legal and ethical conditions.

Biofilm

A biofilm is a layer of mucus that is produced by microorganisms, which are embedded in this layer themselves. Biofilm-producing bacteria pose a medical problem.

Biomarker

Biomarkers are measurable biological parameters that can be used for the prognosis and diagnosis of diseases, for instance.

Bioprofiling

Bioprofiling is a test method to investigate whether newly detected organisms produce medically relevant substances.

BSL3/BSL4

BSL3 and BSL4 are biosafety levels for handling biological working materials.
C

CARA

CARA stands for “Conscience of Antimicrobial Resistance Accountability”. It is an alliance supporting the “UN resolution on antimicrobial resistance”. The DZIF is one of nine founding organizations.

Carbapenem

Carbapenem is an antibiotic of last resort that is used when other antibiotics fail.

cccDNA

The cccDNA is a special, ring-shaped DNA structure that appears in the cell nucleus during the replication of some viruses and can persist there.

CD4 T lymphocyte

CD4 T lymphocytes form a subgroup of T lymphocytes that is responsible for cell-mediated immune responses.

Cell sorting

Cell sorting allows the enrichment of cell types of choice from a cell mixture such as blood or tissue.