What are Anatomy and Physiology?
Anatomy refers to the physical aspects of a molecule, cell, tissue, organ, or organism.[/ref]refers to the physical aspects of a molecule, cell, tissue, organ, or organism. Physiology is the functionality of a cell, tissue, organ, or organism. For example, your hand’s basic anatomy comprises a palm and five digits (four fingers and a thumb), each separated by mobile joints. You can show the marriage of your hand’s anatomy and physiology by writing your name. Writing is one of the physiological processes (functions) of your hand.
How to Read Medical Terminology
Have you ever seen a Haliaeetus leucocephalus flying in the sky?
A, what?
Haliaeetus leucocephalus is the scientific name for the bald eagle.
Why didn’t you write, “Have you ever seen a bald eagle flying in the sky?”
Because the name “bald eagle” is just one of the bird’s common names. The white-headed eagle, American eagle, Washington eagle, black eagle, and white-headed sea eagle are other bald eagle common names. The common name can confuse because if one person said they saw a white-headed eagle, and another said they saw a black eagle, they might think they saw different birds. (There is another eagle called the black eagle, but it lives in Asia.) Haliaeetus leucocephalus is the bald eagle’s only scientific name, describing the bird’s defining features.
- The genus name Haliaeetus translates into the sea (Haleo) eagle (aeetos). The species name leucocephalus translates as white (leukos) head (cephal).
- When the genus and species are put together reads as “a sea eagle with a white head.” We consider bald eagles sea eagles because their diet comprises fish, and white feathers cover their heads.
So how does the genus and species of an organism relate to human anatomy and physiology?
Good question.
Thank you.
In science, a living thing (cell, organ, or organism) has a scientific name that enumerates its defining characteristics and location within or on the body. Let’s use the terms osteocyte, periosteum, and osteosarcoma examples:
- The root word oste/o means bone. So, the three concepts refer to bone.
- The term osteocyte comprises the root word oste/o (bone) and the suffix -cyte (cell). So, an osteocyte is a bone cell.
- The term periosteum has the prefix peri- (around) and the root osteon (bone). So, the periosteum is a membrane that surrounds a bone.
- The term osteosarcoma has the root words oste/o (bone) and sarc/o (flesh/tissue), and the suffix -oma (tumor/mass). So, osteosarcoma is an irregular mass of bone tissue (bone cancer).
Common Medical Terminologies
Below is a list of medical prefixes, root words, and suffixes that will reoccur throughout the school year.
- Prefixes have a dash following it, e.g., hyper-
- Root words have a / separating the ending vowel, e.g., oste/o
- Suffixes have a dash preceding it, e.g., -cyte
Review Questions
Abridged Medical Dictionary
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