nucleic acid

2 definitions found

nucleic acid - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  nucleic acid \nu*cle"ic ac"id\ (n[=oo]*kl[=a]"[i^]k [a^]s"[i^]d
     or n[=oo]*kl[=e]"[i^]k), n. (Chem., Biochem., Genetics)
     A natural or synthetic polymer consisting of chains of
     ribonucleotide or deoxyribonucleotide units.
  
     Note: The nucleic acids are vital constituents of all living
           cells, carrying the genetic information propagated
           between generations, and, while a cell is alive, having
           a continued function in coding for the amino acid
           sequence of proteins being synthesized by the cell. The
           two natural types of nucleic adic are ribonucleic acid
            (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
           [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

nucleic acid - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  nucleic acid
      n 1: (biochemistry) any of various macromolecules composed of
           nucleotide chains that are vital constituents of all living
           cells