Lyn
12/17/2009
3:57:59 PM | First - Definition of Vector as it is used in biology:
(Google the words 'vector biology' ________________________________________________
From MedicineNet.com
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5968
Vector: In medicine, a vector is a carrier. The best way to understand a vector is to recall its origin as a word. Vector is the Latin word for a 'bearer.'
In parasitology (the study of parasitic organisms), the vector carries the parasitic agent. For example, in malaria a mosquito serves as the vector that carries and transfers the infectious agent (Plasmodium), injecting it with a bite.
In molecular biology, a vector may be a virus (or a plasmid); a piece of foreign DNA is inserted in the vector genome to be carried and introduced into a recipient (host) cell.
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From Wikipedia: (Excerpts)
In biology, the term vector may be used in different contexts:
Vector (epidemiology), an organism, often an invertebrate arthropod, that transmits a pathogen from reservoir to host
Vector (molecular biology), vehicle used to transfer genetic material to a target cell
Shuttle vector, a vector (usually a plasmid) constructed so that it can propagate in two different host species
Viral vector, a virus modified to deliver foreign genetic material into a cell
Vector (dispersal), an organism that carries and disperses reproductive structures (e.g., seeds, spores, or pollen) of a different species.
Pollinator, the biotic agent (vector) that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization
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