Having affinity for or readily absorbing blue dyes; characteristic of cells or organisms that take up cyan or blue stains.
From cyanophile + -ous (Latin adjective suffix). This biological adjective describes the property of preferentially binding blue dyes or light wavelengths.
Cyanophilous structures in cells often indicate high amounts of RNA and ribosomes—which is why tumor cells frequently light up bright blue under microscope staining, revealing their rapid protein-making machinery.
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