| ribonucleic acid: any of a class of single-stranded molecules transcribed from DNA in the cell nucleus or in the mitochondrion or chloroplast, containing along the strand a linear sequence of nucleotide bases that is complementary to the DNA strand from which it is transcribed: the composition of the RNA molecule is identical with that of DNA except for the substitution of the sugar ribose for deoxyribose and the substitution of the nucleotide base uracil for thymine. |
RNA  (är'ěn-ā')  n. A polymeric constituent of all living cells and many viruses, consisting of a long, usually single-stranded chain of alternating phosphate and ribose units with the bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil bonded to the ribose. RNA molecules are involved in protein synthesis and sometimes in the transmission of genetic information. Also called ribonucleic acid. [r(ibo)n(ucleic) a(cid).] |
One of a group of molecules similar in structure to a single strand of DNA. The function of RNA is to carry the information from DNA in the cell's nucleus into the body of the cell, to use the genetic code to assemble proteins, and to comprise part of the ribosomes that serve as the platform on which protein synthesis takes place.
RNA (är'ěn-ā')
n.
Ribonucleic acid; a polymeric constituent of all living cells and many viruses, consisting of a long, usually single-stranded chain of alternating phosphate and ribose units with the bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil bonded to the ribose. The structure and base sequence of RNA are determinants of protein synthesis and the transmission of genetic information.
| RNA ribonucleic acid |
