Nucleic acid

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /njuːˈkliː.ɪk ˈæsɪd/, /njuːˈkleɪ.ɪk ˈæsɪd/
• US IPA: /nuˈkleɪ.ɪk ˈæsɪd/

Origin

nucleic (of the nucleus) + acid

Full definition of nucleic acid

Noun

1. (biochemistry, genetics) Any acidic, chainlike biological macromolecule consisting of multiply repeat units of phosphoric acid, sugar and purine and pyrimidine bases; they are involved in the preservation, replication and expression of hereditary information in every living cell

Derived terms

• ribonucleic acid (RNA)
• deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
• threose nucleic acid (TNA)
• peptide nucleic acid (PNA)
• glycol nucleic acid (GNA)
• unlocked nucleic acid (UNA)
• locked nucleic acid (LNA)
• bridged nucleic acid (BNA)
• nucleic acid analogue (XNA)