GC: n

S: Mednet – http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=22055 (last access: 10 October 2015); EUR-LEX – http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:277:0102:0108:EN:PDF (last access: 25 April 2013).

N: 1. Also mal-formation, 1731, from mal- + formation.
2. A structural defect in the body due to abnormal embryonic or fetal development. There are many types of malformations. For example, cleft lip and cleft palate. See also Congenital malformation.
3. malformation, in biology, irregular or abnormal structural development. Malformations occur in both plants and animals and have a number of causes.
4. The processes of development are regulated in such a way that few malformed organisms are found. Those that do appear may, when properly studied, shed light on normal development. The science of teratology—a branch of morphology or embryology—is concerned with the study of these structural deviations from the normal, whether in animals or plants.
5. In general, abnormalities can be traced to deviations from the normal course of development, often in very early embryonic stages. Such deviations may be caused by abnormal (mutant) genes, by environmental conditions, by infection, by drugs, and, perhaps most frequently, by interactions between these sets of causes. A general interpretation has been that one factor in many cases is reduction of the rate of development, the kind and degree of deformity depending upon the stage at which the retardation occurs. This interpretation is supported by the results of descriptive studies of anomalies, and especially by evidence from experimental teratology.

S: 1. Etymonline – http://goo.gl/PkJ4Fk (last access: 4 September 2014). 2. Medterms – http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=22055 (last access: 2 September 2014). 3 to 5. EncBrit – http://goo.gl/ud169V (last access: 2 September 2014).

GV: mal-formation

S: Etymonline – http://goo.gl/PkJ4Fk (last access: 4 September 2014)

SYN:
S:

CR: anomaly, defect, impairment.