transduce

Transduce is a verb used in several scientific and technical senses, all related to transforming or transferring something from one form, system, or domain into another. The word derives from Latin transducere, meaning "to lead across" or "to bring across."

In biology, transduction refers to genetic transfer mediated by a bacteriophage. In generalized transduction, any portion of donor DNA can be packaged and delivered to a recipient cell; in specialized transduction, only genes near a prophage integration site are transferred. Transduction is one of the principal mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria and archaea.

In physiology and neuroscience, transduction denotes the process by which a sensory stimulus is converted into a neural signal by a receptor cell. Examples include phototransduction in the retina and mechanotransduction in hair cells; olfactory transduction converts odorant information into nerve impulses.

In engineering and electronics, a transducer is a device that converts energy or information from one form to another, such as a microphone (sound to electrical signal) or a loudspeaker (electrical to acoustic). The verb transduce can be used to describe the act of performing this conversion.

In functional programming contexts, transduce refers to a technique for applying a reducing function over a collection using a transducer to compose transformations efficiently.