Biologically Active Substance
nucleic acid Audio
nu·cle·ic ac·id [ noo-klee-ik, -kley-, nyoo- ]
Subclass of:
Nucleic Acids, Nucleotides, and Nucleosides
Definitions related to nucleic acids:
  • Naturally occurring or synthetic polynucleotides; DNA or RNA.
    CRISP Thesaurus
    National Institutes of Health, 2006
  • High molecular weight polymers containing a mixture of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides chained together by ribose or deoxyribose linkages.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
  • Type of substance that may be described as a linear sequence of nucleosides typically linked through phosphate esters.
    NCI Thesaurus
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • Nucleic acid, naturally occurring chemical compound that is capable of being broken down to yield phosphoric acid, sugars, and a mixture of organic bases (purines and pyrimidines). Nucleic acids are the main information-carrying molecules of the cell, and, by directing the process of protein...
    Encyclopedia Britannica
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020
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