bioblastn.
/ˈbʌɪə(ʊ)ˌblɑːst/, /ˈbʌɪə(ʊ)ˌblast/, U.S. /ˈbaɪəˌblæst/ Biology. Now historical.
Esp. in the terminology or R. Altmann: a granule of protoplasm thought to be capable of growth and self-reproduction; a minute hypothetical primitive organism, a protobiont.While Altmann's ideas were oversimplified and overgeneralized, some of these visible or hypothetical ‘granules’ were later understood to be organelles, esp. plastids and mitochondria.
ΚΠ
1890 A. B. Lee Microtomist's Vade-mecum (ed. 2) 278 Most frequently the colour is only taken up by certain granules of the cytoplasm, which may or may not be identical with the ‘granules’ or ‘bio-blasts’ of Altmann.
1927 H. T. Lowe-Porter tr. T. Mann Magic Mountain (London ed.) I. v. 358 Those were the genes, the living germs, bioblasts, biophores.
1973 Jrnl. Theoret. Biol. 38 647 In 1890, Altmann proposed that mitochondria originated as endosymbiotic bacterial-like organisms which he called ‘bioblasts’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1890