protogen

English

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

A protogen fursuit

From proto- (“an early, primitive stage of development”) +‎ primagen (“a furry cyborg character with a raptor-like body and fully robotic legs”). Coined by Fur Affinity user Cedar "Malice-risu" Andrews in April 2017 as an open-source fursona species (an open species), in contrast to her copyrighted, more mechanical primagen species; in fiction, protogen are canonically the predecessor species to primagen, hence the name.[1]

Noun

protogen (plural protogens or protogen)

  1. (furry fandom) A fictional anthropomorphic (furry) cyborg with a robotic chest and thighs, and a visor screen upon which the creature's face is displayed.
    Synonyms: (informal) proto, (informal) proot, (humorous) toaster
    • 2017 April 9, @Scott_NoName, Twitter‎[2] (post):
      JUMPING ON THE PROTOGEN BANDWAGON!!!! now I just need a name for this lil guy! if someone comes…
    • 2018 August 25, @TheGreidyDragon, Twitter‎[3] (post):
      *pulls in the protogen to wrap up in his wings*
      Do protos make cute little beeps when hugged? :D
    • 2022 June 28, Maliya Ellis, “Anthrocon is back in Pittsburgh — and here come the furries”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‎[4], archived from the original on 11 January 2026:
      Fast forward a few years, and the whole family has adopted "fursonas," which they’re excited to show off at their first-ever Anthrocon. This weekend, Savannah will be a kangaroo named "Bubbles," Theresa will be a "sparkledog" named "Amethyst," Andrew will be a protogen — a computer-animal hybrid species — named "Jayden," and Carver, their son, will be a dragon named "Aiden Moonclaw."
    • 2023, Camielle Adams, Courtney N. Plante, Kathleen C. Gerbasi, Sharon E. Roberts, Stephen Reysen, editor, Furscience: A Decade of Psychological Research on the Furry Fandom, International Anthropomorphic Research Project, →ISBN, page 322:
      If you don't know what a protogen is do yourself a favor and look up some pictures of them right now—they're a really cool fusion of cute/fuzzy critter and technology!
    • 2024 April 20, Daniel V., “[Top 14] VRChat Best Avatars”, in Gamers Decide‎[5], archived from the original on 21 January 2026:
      When it comes to furry avatars, the Protogen[sic] genre of avatars are by far the most popular… and with good reason too. They're slick in terms of their design, incredibly customizable, and have lots of facial features and body expressions that can be tailored for just about any player.
See also

Etymology 2

Shortening.

Noun

protogen (plural protogens)

  1. (biochemistry) Clipping of protoporphyrinogen.
    • 1870 November, “Editor's Scientific Record”, in Harper's New Monthly Magazine‎[6], volume 42, Harper & Brothers, page 629:
      It is also said that in plants of the turnip tribe a substance occurs of the same complicated composition as the protogen of the brain, and that these elements split up naturally, in the same mauner as they do when decomposed artificially, and in both cases phosphoric acid, sugar, and nitrogenous substances like neurin and oxyneurin, result from the process.
    • 1961, Michael Wells Neil, Basic Biochemistry, Lippincott, page 47:
      In each case a factor was found to be required which was not one of the known coenzymes. These factors were known variously as pyruvate oxidation factor, protogen, and thioctic acid or a-lipoic acid, but by 1952 it was evident that they were one and the same compound.
    • 1982, Constantin A. Rebeiz and June Lascelles, “Biosynthesis of Pigments in Plants and Bacteria”, in Govindjee, editor, Energy Conversion by Plants and Bacteria‎[7], volume 1, Academic Press, →ISBN, page 750:
      It was suggested by Granick (1961) that in animal mitochondria Proto was probably formed from protoporphyrinogen (Protogen) (VIII; Fig. 1) by an enzymatic oxidation that involves the removal of six hydrogens from the Protogen ring.
    • 2012, Ko Wakabayashi, Peter Böger, “General Physiological Characteristics and Mode of Action of Peroxidizing Herbicides”, in Ko Wakabayashi, Peter Böger, editor, Peroxidizing Herbicides, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, →ISBN, page 174:
      Peroxidizing compounds inhibit the protoporphyrinogen oxidase in the bio-synthetic pathway (protox, EC 1.3.3.4) which oxidizes protoporphyrinogen (protogen; Matringe and Scalla 1988; Matringe et al. 1989). The protogen precursors uro- and coproporphyrinogen are not oxidized (Duke et al. 1994).

References

  1. ^ Rune (11 April 2017), “Protogens are the new craze!!!”, in Rune's Furry Blog‎[1], archived from the original on 14 August 2026: “Well on April 8th, Cedar Andrews (also part of the account Malice-risu on FA) opened up a sub-species to the widely sought-after Primagens and called them: "PROTOGENS"!”

Further reading

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