A colored organic compound formed when tetrazolium salts are reduced by biological enzymes, widely used to measure cell activity and viability in research.
Derived from 'formazyl' plus the suffix '-an' (indicating a chemical compound class). The name reflects its structure and was developed in 20th-century biochemistry.
Formazans are the rainbow-colored clues that scientists use to see if cells are alive and working—they turn blue, purple, or red as living cells reduce tetrazolium, making invisible life visible!
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