Vivisection – surgical procedures carried out on a living subject (usually non-human) for the purposes of research rather than as a medical intervention.
Vivisector / vivisectionist- investigator carrying out vivisection.
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Curious Cases
'Curious Cases' is a BBC Radio 4 radio programme and podcast that explores themes inspired by listeners' questions. A tagline is "Hannah Fry and Dara ó Briain tackle listeners' conundrums with the power of science!" [My apologies to Mr ó Briain that the symbol for an upper case O with an accent does not seem to be accepted typography in WordPress.]
The programme was originally called 'The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry', being presented by Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry. Adam Rutherford is a geneticist who presented a range of Broadcast programmes as well as being a honorary faculty member at University College London. After 21 series Rutherford left the programme.
Hannah Fry is a mathematician who also worked at UCL and is also known for a wide range of broadcasting activities, and is now the Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Dara ó Briain is a comedian familiar to many from regular presenting roles on television. He studied physics and maths at University College Dublin, and is well known for his enthusiasm for astronomy (having presented a popular astronomy programme 'Stargazing' with Prof. Brian Cox).
Although neither Fry* nor ó Briain are professional scientists, the series features guests who are specialists in the scientific fields related to the theme of each episode.
* mathematics being essential to science and strongly linked to it, but being rather different in its nature, and rightly seen by mathematicians as having interest, priorities and practices in its own right without regard to its applications in other fields.
erythroblastic island
An example of a technical term in a scientific field that could be perceived by a novice or non-specialist as a figure of speech. Erythroblastic 'islands' may seem to be a metaphor, but this term has a precise meaning:
"Erythroblastic islands are specialized microenvironmental compartments within which definitive mammalian erythroblasts proliferate and differentiate. These islands consist of a central macrophage that extends cytoplasmic protrusions to a ring of surrounding erythroblasts. The interaction of cells within the erythroblastic island is essential for both early and late stages of erythroid maturation. It has been proposed that early in erythroid maturation the macrophages provide nutrients, proliferative and survival signals to the erythroblasts, and phagocytose extruded erythroblast nuclei at the conclusion of erythroid maturation."
Manwani D. & Bieker J. J. (2008) The erythroblastic island. Current Topics in Developmental Biology, 82: 23-53. doi: 10.1016/S0070-2153(07)00002-6.
professional phagocytes
An example of a technical term which may appear to the non-specialist or novice learner to be a figure of speech being used metaphorically:
"Phagocytes of humans and other animals are called "professional" or "non-professional" depending on how effective they are at phagocytosis. The professional phagocytes include many types of white blood cells (such as neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, mast cells, and dendritic cells). The main difference between professional and non-professional phagocytes is that the professional phagocytes have molecules called receptors on their surfaces that can detect harmful objects, such as bacteria, that are not normally found in the body. Non-professional phagocytes do not have efficient phagocytic receptors, such as those for opsonins. Phagocytes are crucial in fighting infections, as well as in maintaining healthy tissues by removing dead and dying cells that have reached the end of their lifespan."
Wikipedia article on phagocytes
eat me signals
don't eat me signals
Examples of technical terms that may be perceived by a novice or non-specialist as a metaphor:
"Eat-me signals are molecules exposed on the surface of a cell to induce phagocytes to phagocytose (eat) that cell. Currently known eat-me signals include: phosphatidylserine, oxidized phospholipids, sugar residues (such as galactose), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), calreticulin, annexin A1, histones and pentraxin-3 (PTX3)"
Wikipedia entry 'Eat me signals'
"CD47 is a potent 'do not eat me' signal that enables cancer cells to evade detection by the innate immune system, thereby avoiding destruction by first responder cells, such as macrophages."
Takimoto, C.H., Chao, M. P., Gibbs , C., McCamish, M. A., Liu, J., Chen, J. Y., Majeti, R. & Weissman , I. L. (2019) Annals of Oncology, Volume 30, Issue 3, 486 – 489
vascular tree
The term 'vascular tree' (the branching system of blood vessels within organ or the wider body), though clearly metaphorical in origin has become an accepted technical term (a 'dead metaphor') within a particular scientific community. However a novice or non-specialist may assume this is simply a metaphor (a 'phantom metaphor')
"The vascular system is a network that acts as a conduit for the flow of blood and lymph throughout the body. The blood vessels that comprise the vascular system consist of the arteries that deliver the blood from the heart to the rest of the body, the veins that bring the blood back to the heart from the different parts of the body and the capillaries that are the tiny blood vessels interconnecting the arteries and veins allowing the oxygenated blood to be transported to the body. The vascular tree is thus a closed system formed from a perfect balance of arteries, capillaries, and veins that help the blood and other nutrients to be delivered to every cell in the body."
Paul, Oindrila, Jian Qin Tao, Xiaohui Guo & Chatterjee, Shampa (2021) in Shampa Chatterjee (Ed.), Endothelial Signaling in Vascular Dysfunction and Disease. From Bench to Bedside. Academic Press, pp.3-13
membrane leaflet
A phantom metaphor? An example of a metaphorically derived technical term which might be assumed by a novice or non-specialist to be a live metaphor,
"When phospholipids are exposed to water, they self-assemble into a two-layered sheet with the hydrophobic tails pointing toward the center of the sheet. This arrangement results in two 'leaflets' that are each a single molecular layer. The center of this bilayer contains almost no water and excludes molecules like sugars or salts that dissolve in water. The assembly process and maintenance are driven by aggregation of hydrophobic molecules (also called the hydrophobic effect). This complex process includes non-covalent interactions such as van der Waals forces, electrostatic and hydrogen bonds"
Wikipedia entry on Lipid bilayer
phantom metaphors
Metaphors are figures of speech where something is described as being a different type of thing (e.g., the mitochondrion is the engine room of the cell) – to suggest some similarity.
Dead metaphors (or frozen metaphors) are terms that were once metaphorical, but which with repeated use have now been accepted as non-metaphorical labels.
Within a particular discourse community (within a scientific field, within a professional group) terms that were introduced metaphorically may acquire a 'frozen' meaning and come to be used as technical terms. They become dead metaphors within that community. However, a novice or nonspecialist from outside the group may perceive them as 'live' metaphors rather than dead metaphors that (now) have technical definitions. For the uninitiated, these are 'phantom' metaphors.
chaperone proteins
The term chaperone when used in relation to proteins may appear to the uninitiated as a kind of metaphor, but the term has acquired a fixed technical meaning in biology and medicine.
"In molecular biology, molecular chaperones are proteins that assist the conformational folding or unfolding of large proteins or macromolecular protein complexes. There are a number of classes of molecular chaperones, all of which function to assist large proteins in proper protein folding during or after synthesis, and after partial denaturation. Chaperones are also involved in the translocation of proteins for proteolysis."
cross talk
In everyday life cross talk (cross-talk, crosstalk) means people talking across each other: "a situation in which two or more people in a conversation are talking at the same time" (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/crosstalk). It may therefore appear as a phantom metaphor when used in technical writing, although it is now used as a technical term:
"Describes the process inside a cell that occurs when the same signal is shared by two or more signaling pathways. Usually, a signal caused by the binding of a substance to a molecule on or inside a cell is passed from one molecule to another in the same pathway."
silent genes
The term 'silent' gene may appear as a phantom metaphor, but is now used as a technical term:
"Silent genes are DNA sequences that are generally not expressed or expressed at a very low level. These genes become active as a result of mutation, recombination, or insertion. Silent genes can also be activated in laboratory conditions using pleiotropic, targeted genome-wide, or biosynthetic gene cluster approaches."
Stasiak M, Maćkiw E, Kowalska J, Kucharek K, Postupolski J. Silent Genes: Antimicrobial Resistance and Antibiotic Production. Pol J Microbiol. 2021 Dec;70(4):421-429. doi: 10.33073/pjm-2021-040.
idiom
An idiom is a phrase which through common usage has come to have a metaphorical meaning that may not be clear form the literal meanings of the constituent words (so being 'over the moon' has nothing to do with location. altitude, or, indeed, the moon).
Idioms may potentially be a barrier to understanding for second language learners as the meaning of an idiom can often not be deduced by translation as an idiom is often specific to a particular language.