Viability
Viability means in general "capacity for survival" and is more specifically used to mean a capacity for living, developing, or germinating under favorable conditions. Other examples:
* In the context of
pregnancy, viability refers to either:
** an early stage pregnancy that has a chance of reaching full-term and a live birth (as opposed to, for example, an
ectopic pregnancy); or
** the shortest length of pregnancy after which a child
born prematurely has a chance of survival. Generally, this ranges from 20-27 weeks.
* In an environmental conservation context, viability indicates the ability of a
conservation target to persist for many generations or over long time periods.
* In the context of
experimental biology,
viability of
cells and
tissues refers to the extent to which those
cells and
tissues are
living.
* In the context of
natural selection, the fraction of individuals that survive to a given age.
* In the context of
economic development, viability indicates the ability of benefits to cover costs in development projects.
