noun
- In biology, the portion of protoplasm in a cell that is not involved in heredity; the non-genetic cytoplasm.
Usage: technical; biology; rare in modern usage
Examples
- Early cell biologists distinguished between idioplasm, which carried hereditary information, and alloplasm, which performed metabolic functions.
- The alloplasm of the egg cell provides nutrients for early embryonic development.
- Researchers studied how alloplasm interacts with the nucleus during cell division.