The breakdown or destruction of living matter or biological tissue by the action of living organisms or their enzymes.
Coined from Greek bio- (life) + lysis (breaking/dissolving). First used in biological literature in the 1800s to describe processes where biological agents destroy or break down organic material.
Biolysis is why dead leaves decompose in a forest—fungi and bacteria literally eat away at the plant tissue, recycling it back into soil nutrients!
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