Located or existing outside of an organism; in biology, referring to processes or structures that occur in the environment rather than within a living thing.
From Latin 'extra' (outside) + 'organismal' (from 'organism', which comes from Greek 'organon' meaning tool or instrument). The term developed in 20th-century biology.
Enzymes breaking down food in your gut are extraorganismal in a sense—they're made by your body but work in the digestive tract, a space technically 'outside' your organism's cells, which is why you can't digest certain raw plant materials without external heat.
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