adenine

noun ad·e·nine \ ˈa-də-ˌnēn \

Definition of adenine

: a purine base C₅H₅N₅ that codes hereditary information in the genetic code in DNA and RNA — compare cytosine, guanine, thymine, uracil

See adenine defined for kids

Recent Examples of adenine from the Web

Tobacco Doctors already knew that tobacco could cause cancer, but Alexandrov’s work showed how—by preferentially mutating certain bases (such as cytosine) into others (adenine).

— jacqueline detwiler, Popular Mechanics, "One Guy With a Supercomputer Who's Chasing the Causes of Cancer," 19 Mar. 2018
The bases are often referred to as A, C, G and T, the initials of their full chemical names, adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine.

— The Economist, "BiotechnologyGene editing takes another step forward," 26 Oct. 2017
The enzyme needed is an adenine deaminase that works on DNA.

— The Economist, "BiotechnologyGene editing takes another step forward," 26 Oct. 2017
Harmful herbs AAs spur cancers almost exclusively by inducing adenine-to-thymine (A-to-T) mutations in DNA.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "Herbal remedies embraced by naturopaths, alt med widely linked to liver cancers," 18 Oct. 2017
The nascent technology converts the 1s and 0s of computing’s binary code into A, C, G and T, the letters that correspond to DNA base types, adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine.

— jay greene, WSJ, "Malware Stored in Synthetic DNA Can Take Over a PC, Researchers Find," 10 Aug. 2017
The vitamin can help compensate for defects in the body’s ability to make a molecule, called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), which researchers have linked for the first time to healthy fetal development in humans.

— gretchen vogel, Science | AAAS, "Vitamin B3 could help prevent birth defects," 9 Aug. 2017
The vast chains of DNA in each cell are made of just four molecules — adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine — arranged in enormously varied configurations.

— gina kolata, The Seattle Times, "Who needs hard drives? Scientists store film clip in DNA," 12 July 2017
The vast chains of DNA in each cell are made of just four molecules — adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine — arranged in enormously varied configurations.

— gina kolata, New York Times, "Who Needs Hard Drives? Scientists Store Film Clip in DNA," 12 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adenine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of adenine

borrowed from German Adenin, from Greek aden-, adḗn "gland" + German -in ²-ine; so called from its presence in glandular tissue — more at aden-

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1885

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year