F

Familial Polyposis
Hereditary, autosomal dominant precancerous syndrome characterized by innumerable adenomatous polyps of the colon.

Fanconi anemia (congenital pancytopenia)
A rare congenital anemia characterized by pancytopenia and hypoplasia of the bone marrow

Fascia
Fascia, a connective tissue, is the packing material of the body. It envelopes the muscles, bones and joints and holds us together supporting the body structure and giving us our shape. Fascia organizes and separates: it provides protection and autonomy for the individual muscles and viscera. It joins and bonds these separate entities and establishes spatial relationships. Chemically it is the collagen in the fascia that enables it to change.

Fertilization
The process of union of two gametes whereby the somatic chromosome number is restored and the development of a new individual is initiated.

Fetus
An unborn or unhatched vertebrate especially after attaining the basic structural plan of its kind; specifically : a developing human from usually three months after conception to birth.

Fibroblast
A connective-tissue cell of mesenchymal origin that secretes proteins and especially molecular collagen from which the extracellular fibrillar matrix of connective tissue forms.

Fibrosis
Refers to the presence of scar tissue or collagen fibers in any tissue. In the liver, fibrosis or scarring of the liver damages the architecture and thus the functionality of the organ. Fibrosis, combined with the liver’s ability to regenerate, causes cirrhosis (regeneration within the scar tissue).

Fistula
In medicine, a fistula is an abnormal channel that creates an open passageway between two bodily structures that do not normally connect.

Flagellum
A long tapering process that projects singly or in groups from a cell and is the primary organ of motion of many microorganisms.

Flow Cytometry
Analysis of biological material by detection of the light-absorbing or fluorescing properties of cells or subcellular fractions such as chromosomes passing in a narrow stream through a laser beam. Flow cytometry is used with automated sorting devices to sort successive droplets of the stream into different fractions depending on the fluorescence emitted by each droplet.

Fossa (pl. fossae)
An anatomical pit, groove, or depression.

Free Radicals
An atom or a group of atoms with an unpaired electron. Radicals are unusually reactive, strongly oxidizing species capable of causing a wide range of biological damage.

Fulguration
Destroying tissue using an electric current.