supercoiledadj.
/ˈsuːpəkɔɪld/, /ˈsjuːpəkɔɪld/, U.S. /ˈsupərˌkɔɪld/ Chiefly Biochemistry.
Coiled to a greater degree than is usual or expected; designating or relating to a coil that is itself coiled, esp. a superhelical DNA molecule.
ΚΠ
1939 R. Field & A. Pederson To see Ourselves i. 20 The double walnut Empire [bed] with the super-coiled springs.
1956 Jrnl. Biophysical & Biochem. Cytol. 2 68 Supercoiled α-helices must be involved according to current interpretations of α-diagrams.
1981 Times 17 Oct. 2/8 The human DNA molecule is about six feet long (it is coiled and supercoiled inside the cell).
2007 New Scientist 16 June 83/1 (advt.) Other cell engineering projects have focused on enhancing the yield and quality of supercoiled plasmid DNA.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1939