EDTA is the acronym for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, a chelating agent used to bind metal ions in chemical analyses and medical treatments. In common biochemical contexts it’s encountered as a salt or disodium/ calcium salt form, and in labs it stabilizes samples by sequestering divalent metal ions. Pronounced letter-by-letter as a technical shorthand, it is treated as an English loanword in many scientific communities.
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