The process of destroying or removing the activity or the effects of an agent or substance; e.g., the complementary effect of a serum may be destroyed by means of i. at 56°C for 30 min.
- insertional i. a technique of recombinant DNA technology used to select bacteria that carry recombinant plasmids; a fragment of foreign DNA is inserted into a restriction site within a gene for antibiotic resistance, thus causing that gene to become nonfunctional.
- X i. lyonization.
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in·ac·ti·va·tion (in-ak″tĭ-vaґshən) the destruction of biological activity, as of a virus or enzyme, by the action of heat or other physical or chemical means.Medical dictionary. 2011.