Pharynx
The hollow tube that is about 5 inches long and starts behind the nose and ends at the top of the trachea (windpipe) and esophagus. The pharynx serves as a vestibule or entryway for the trachea and esophagus.
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- Phase, resting
More appropriately called interphase. The interval in the cell cycle between two cell divisions when the individual chromosomes cannot be distinguished, interphase was once thought to be the resting phase but it is far from a time of rest for the cell. It is the time when DNA is replicated in the cell nucleus.
- Phenocopy
1. An environmental condition that imitates (copies) the phenotype produced by a gene. 2.The person who has an environmentally-produced condition that mimics one produced by a gene.
- Phenol
1. A poisonous corrosive compound obtained by the distillation of coal tar that, in dilute solution, is an antimicrobial agent. Also called carbolic acid. 2. A generic term for any compound similar in structure to phenol (an organic compound with one or more hydroxyl groups attached to an aromatic or carbon ring).
- Phenolphthalein
A compound used as a laboratory reagent and acid-base indicator and also used in over-the-counter (OTC) laxative preparations. Phenolphthalein may be a carcinogen (cancer-causing agent). Feeding of phenolphthalein caused cancer in multiple organs in multiple species of experimental animals. The US government in 2000 classified phenolphthalein as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
- Phenomenon, Babinski
Joseph Francois Felix Babinski (1857-1932). His name will not be soon forgotten in medicine, thanks to the Babinski phenomenon.