Adenines

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Nitrogenous bases found in nucleic acids that pair with thymine in DNA and uracil in RNA; fundamental components of genetic code; purines with a double-ring structure
2. Organic compounds forming part of nucleotides, pairing specifically with thymine or uracil in genetic material; key to encoding hereditary information; characterized as purine bases with two fused rings
3. Molecular bases within DNA and RNA responsible for complementary base pairing to thymine or uracil; essential units of genetic sequences; typified by a purine double-ring chemical structure

Etymology: Adenine was named in 1885 by the German biochemist Albrecht Kossel, who had extracted the substance from the pancreas, a gland. The name comes from the Ancient Greek "adēn," meaning "gland," with the chemical suffix "-ine" added. Kossel was labelling a molecule by the tissue he had found it in, so the name records a source rather than a structure. The molecule has since become one of the most familiar names in biology. Adenine is a purine base with two fused rings, and it pairs specifically with thymine in DNA and with uracil in RNA. Because the word is a plural here, "adenines" refers to more than one such molecule or to several instances of the base within genetic material.

Synonyms: adenine bases, purines