Glossary - The Origin of Individuals - page 220

Stem cells : Non-differentiated cells in the embryo or the adult
organism that can either renew themselves by multiplication or
differentiate.
Stereospecificity : See Specificity .
Synapse : See Neuron .
Teleonomy : Property of organisms of being endowed with an objec-
tive that they realise due to the genetic programme. This is a modern
version of finality in the context of molecular biology.
Thermal agitation : The atoms and molecules in matter, irrespective
of its state, are perpetually in motion, never immobile. This contin-
ual movement is correlated with the temperature: it reduces as the
temperature falls (and totally ceases at absolute zero) and increases
as the temperature rises. Although subject to Newton's determinis-
tic laws, this movement of atoms or molecules cannot be predicted
other than in a probabilistic way, as for the movement of a coin in
the game of heads or tails. Molecules diffuse by this random
Brownian motion which in the absence of constraints tends to make
their concentrations homogeneous (see Molecular interaction ).
Three-dimensional structure of proteins : See Protein synthesis .
Transcription : See Protein synthesis .
Translation : See Protein synthesis .