The destruction or breaking down of cells or tissues from a different species; or in chemistry, a bond breaking where electrons are unequally distributed.
From Greek hetero- (different) + lysis (breaking/dissolution), describing cellular destruction across species boundaries. Used in both immunology and organic chemistry.
In chemistry, heterolysis is like ripping apart a molecular rope where one end steals both pieces, leaving an unequal split—totally different from homolysis where they share fairly!
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