bio-, bi-, -bia, -bial, -bian, -bion, -biont, -bius, -biosis, -bium, -biotic, -biotical

(Greek: life; living, live, alive)

Don’t confuse this element with another bi- which means "two".

The most important things in life are not things.

—Anonymous
eubiotics (pl) (noun), (a plural form that is used as a singular or a plural)
The study of living in a healthy condition.
eurybiontic
A reference to an organism tolerating a wide range of a particular environmental factor.
exobiologist
1. One who studies life that originates on the outside, or exterior, of an organism.
2. One who studies extraterrestrial life.
exobiology
A branch of biology with a special interest in the search for life on other planets and elesewhere in the universe, and with the study of conditions that might give rise to extraterrestrial life, as well as the study of the effects of extraterrestrial environments.
exobiotic
Living on the exterior of a substrate (substratum) [base to which a stationary animal or a plant is fixed] or the outside of an organism.
geobiologist (s) (noun), geobiologists (pl)
An individual who studies the biosphere, or in the combination of geology and biology: A geobiologist specializes in the interdisciplinary field of scientific research that explores interactions between the biosphere, the lithosphere, and the atmosphere.
geobiology (s) (noun) (no pl)
The study of the biosphere and the physical Earth: Geobiology is a relatively new field and its subject areas flow into portions of ecology, microbiology, palaeontology, soil science, and evolutionary biology.

Geobiology is an interdisciplinary field of scientific research that explores interactions between the biosphere and the lithosphere and/or the atmosphere.

Geobiology is also concerned with the study of terrestrial life.

geobion (s) (noun), geobions (pl)
A plant that is associated with dry land: Mr. Plant asked his students to look up information regarding geobions, or vegetation that grows on land, and not those plants that grow in water.
geobiont (s) (noun), geobionts (pl)
In biology, an organism spending its whole life in the soil or in the ground: Earthworms, grubs, centipedes, millipedes, snails, slugs, and insect larvae are just a few forms of life that are considered to be geobionts and exist in soil.

Geobionts permanently inhabit the soil and affect its structure.

geobiontic (adjective), more geobiontic, most geobiontic
A reference to an organism that spends its entire life in the ground: In the garden, little Alice watched a geobiontic earthworm crawl around in the flowerbed.
geobios (s) (noun) (no pl)
The total life of the land; terrestrial life: Geobios entails that part of the Earth's surface which is occupied by terrestrial organisms.
gnotobiology
1. The study of organisms or conditions that are either free of germs or associated only with known or specified germs.
2. The study of animals in the absence of contaminating microorganisms; that is, of “germ-free” animals.
gnotobiosis
1. A condition in which animals are sterile both internally and externally, or of the procedures used to secure and maintain these conditions.
2. Growing organisms by themselves or in association with other completely known kinds of organisms; raising gnotobiotic organisms.
3. A condition in which all the forms of life present within an organism can be accounted for. Typically these organisms are germfree or gnotophoric (having only one contaminant).
gnotobiota
Living colonies or species, assembled from pure isolates (separations).
gnotobiote
1. An individual organism from a group assembled from pure isolates or separations from other organisms. Also, gnotobiota.
2. A germ-free animal infected with one or more microorganisms in order to study the microorganism in a controlled situation.
Quiz If you would like to take a series of self-scoring quizzes over some of the words in this bio- unit, then click this Life, Live, Living Quiz link so you can check your knowledge. You may also try several additional quizzes in this listing.

Related life, live-word units: anima-; -cole; vita-; viva-.