Glossary of Terms

Canadian government agency which provides information, research and technology, and policies and programs to achieve security of the food system, health of the environment and innovation for growth.

Department of the USDA responsible for protecting and promoting United States agricultural health, administering the Animal Welfare Act, and carrying out wildlife damage management activities. APHIS is responsible for the regulation of testing and production of transgenic plants in the United States.

Current good manufacturing practice which involves tightly controlled production processes that are thoroughly documented to ensure that products and product candidates are consistently produced and are of high quality.

The process of creating a hybrid crosses between populations, breeds or cultivars of a single species.

The United States regulatory body that oversees the drug development process in the United States. Most drugs cannot be marketed in the United States without the approval of the FDA.

Unit of heredity in living organisms. They are encoded in the organism’s genetic material (usually DNA or RNA) and control the physical development and behaviour of the organism.

The process resulting in the addition of saccharides (sugar) to proteins.

The international standard-setting body composed of representatives from national standards bodies. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization produces world-wide industrial and commercial standards, the so-called ISO standards. The ISO standard for critical environment such as cleanrooms and data centers is ISO 14644.

A protein manufactured using a process involving an organism which has been altered by the incorporation of foreign genetic material.

An organism that has been altered by incorporation of foreign genetic material.

Department of the United States government responsible for farm and foreign agricultural services, food safety, natural resources and environment, rural development, food, nutrition and consumer services, marketing and regulatory, and research, education and economics. APHIS is part of the USDA.

A documented program that provides a high degree of assurance that a specific process, method or system will consistently produce a result meeting pre-determined acceptance criteria.

DNA construct, such as a plasmid or a bacterial artificial chromosome, that contains an origin of replication. An appropriate replication origin causes a cell to copy the construct along with the cell’s chromosomes and to pass it along to its progeny. A single cell that has been transformed with a vector will grow into an entire culture of cells, all containing the vector and any gene attached to it within the construct.