dose (biochemistry)

A dose is a quantity of something (chemical, physical, or biological) that may impact an organism biologically; the greater the quantity, the larger the dose. In nutrition, the term is usually applied to how much of a specific nutrient is in a person's diet or in a particular food, meal, or dietary supplement. In medicine, the term is usually applied to the quantity of a drug or other agent administered for therapeutic purposes. In toxicology dose may refer to the amount of a harmful agent (such as a poison, carcinogen, mutagen, or teratogen), to which an organism is exposed.