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karyon

Karyon is a term from ancient Greek meaning "nut" or "kernel" that has been adopted in biology to refer to the cell nucleus, the membrane-bound organelle that houses an organism's genetic material in eukaryotic cells. The combining form karyo- appears in many scientific terms related to the nucleus, such as karyotype, which describes the number and appearance of chromosomes; karyology, the study of the nucleus; and karyoplasm, the substance inside the nucleus. The concept of a defined nucleus distinguishes eukaryotes from prokaryotes, which lack a membrane-bound nucleus and instead organize their genetic material in a region called a nucleoid.

The word karyon is mainly encountered in compound terms rather than as a standalone term in current

In biology and related fields, discussions of karyon touch on cell division, gene expression, chromosomal structure,

usage;
it
also
appears
in
historical
literature
as
the
etymological
source
of
the
karyo-
prefix.
In
contemporary
biology,
the
standard
term
for
the
organelle
is
the
nucleus,
while
karyo-
remains
a
productive
root
in
technical
vocabulary.
and
genome
organization,
reflecting
the
central
role
of
the
nucleus
in
heredity
and
cellular
regulation.