nucleic acid
noun
nu·cle·ic acid
| \ nu̇-ˈklē-ik-
, -ˈklā-, nyu̇-
\
, -ˈklā-, nyu̇-
\
Definition of nucleic acid
: any of various complex organic acids (such as DNA or RNA) that are composed of nucleotide chains
Examples of nucleic acid in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Polymerase, an enzyme that synthesizes polymers and nucleic acids, is essential in creating DNA and RNA, the molecules that are responsible for coding DNA. — New York Times, "Kary B. Mullis, 74, Dies; Found a Way to Analyze DNA and Won Nobel," 15 Aug. 2019 In the case of Hologic’s M. gen test, Getman said, the area used for detection was only about 80 nucleic acid base pairs long out of a larger string of more than 500,000. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "New test from San Diego’s Hologic is first in U.S. to help detect new STD threat," 2 Aug. 2019 The results from this and other RNA transfer experiments likely have other explanations, said Thomas Tuschl, a nucleic acid chemist and biochemist at Rockefeller University. — Quanta Magazine, "RNA’s Secret Life Outside the Cell," 8 Nov. 2013 Looking past the near term and into the murky future, our ultimate agile defense layer could be built around tiny biochips, which print nucleic acids and then deliver them into our bodies. — Andrew Hessel, Ars Technica, "Printing vaccines at the pharmacy or at home will be the way of the future," 20 June 2019 Most of the nucleic acids and sugars that make up DNA and RNA are right-handed, too. — Quanta Magazine, "The End of the RNA World Is Near, Biochemists Argue," 19 Dec. 2017 Accelerating vaccine development will require us to innovate new and likely unconventional technologies, such as vectored immunoprophylaxis or nucleic acid vaccines. — R. Daniel Bressler, Vox, "“Designer bugs”: how the next pandemic might come from a lab," 6 Dec. 2018 The second was molecular phylogenetics, which allows scientists to compare nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) among different species and thus ascertain evolutionary relationships among them. — David P. Barash, WSJ, "‘The Tangled Tree’ Review: From Tiny Seeds," 9 Aug. 2018 In 2016, the office issued a Cas9 patent for detecting nucleic acids to Caribou Biosciences in Berkeley, which was co-founded by Doudna as a Crispr tool developer and has also filed Cas12a patents of its own. — Megan Molteni, WIRED, "A New Startup Wants to Use Crispr to Diagnose Disease," 26 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nucleic acid.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for nucleic acid
nucleic acid
noun
English Language Learners Definition of nucleic acid
technical
: any of various acids (such as DNA or RNA) that are found in living cells
See the full definition for nucleic acid in the English Language Learners Dictionary
nucleic acid
noun
nu·cle·ic acid
| \ n(y)u̇-ˌklē-ik-
, -ˌklā-
\
, -ˌklā-
\
Medical Definition of nucleic acid
: any of various acids (as an RNA or a DNA) composed of nucleotide chains