Michael's glossary

Angiogenesis means growing new blood vessels. It helps wounds heal, but tumors can also “order” new pipes so they can get food.

A bacterium is a single-celled living thing. Some bacteria cause disease, some live with us and help out, like in the gut, and some are lab superstars.

A cell is the basic unit of life: a tiny room with a border, an energy kitchen, and a protein factory. The human body is made of billions of cells.

A clinical trial is a step-by-step test of a treatment in people: first asking if it is safe, then whether it seems to help, and only later whether it works at large scale.

DNA is the cell’s recipe book: four chemical letters lined up in long rows. Most stories about “genes” start here.

Gene editing means using tools, like CRISPR, to cut DNA at a specific spot and fix or swap its letters.

The immune system is the body’s security team: it spots “not me,” attacks troublemakers, and remembers them for next time.

mRNA, or messenger RNA, is a temporary note from the cell’s nucleus: “Build this protein now.” After the cell reads it, the note breaks down; it does not rewrite the DNA book.

Neuroinflammation is what happens when the brain or nerves’ immune alarm starts working too hard. Sometimes it protects; sometimes it can hurt the very cells it is trying to defend.

Oncology is cancer medicine: it studies how cells start dividing without brakes, and how to stop them without wrecking too many healthy cells.

A p-value is a number from 0 to 1 that asks: “If there were really no real effect here, how often would we see a result this extreme, or even more extreme, just by chance?” The smaller it is, the less the result looks like plain luck, so researchers pay more attention, often when it is below 0.05.

A protein is a tiny molecular machine working inside the body: it builds, cuts, carries signals, and fights invaders.

A vaccine is safe practice for your immune system: it shows the body a “wanted poster” of a threat without giving it the full disease.