A unit or particle of living substance; a hypothetical fundamental unit of life or protoplasm.
From 'bio-' (life) + 'plast' (from Greek plastos, formed/molded). This term was proposed by early biologists seeking to identify the smallest possible unit of life before cells and organelles were fully understood.
Biologists once hunted for the 'bioplast'—thinking there must be some tiny irreducible unit of life—but it turned out life doesn't have one building block; it's organized in layers like atoms, molecules, organelles, cells, tissues.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.