biotin Biochem.
(ˈbaɪətɪn)
[a. G. biotin (F. Kögl & B. Tönnis 1936, in Zeitschr. physiol. Chem. CCXLII. 50), f. Gr. βιότος (βίος) life (see bios) + -in1.]
A crystalline growth vitamin, C10H16O3N2S, occurring esp. in yeast and egg-yolk, that is inactivated by combination with avidin; vitamin H.
| 1936 Chem. Abstr. XXX. 7624 (heading) The bios problem. Isolation of crystalline biotin from egg yolk. 1937 Nature 24 July 161/1 ‘Biotin’, a sulphur-containing substance of great potency which may be the chief component of ‘bios’, originally described by Wildiers as a necessary growth factor for yeast. Biotin has also been shown to have an effect on the growth of higher plants. 1944 Lancet 24 June 826/2 The egg-white injury demonstrated in rats is not a direct toxic effect but the result of biotin deficiency. |