RNA is an acid in the chromosomes of the cells of living things which plays an important part in passing information about protein structure between different cells. RNA is an abbreviation for 'ribonucleic acid'.
[technical]
RNA in British English
noun
biochemistry
ribonucleic acid; any of a group of nucleic acids, present in all living cells, that play an essential role in the synthesis of proteins. On hydrolysis they yield the pentose sugar ribose, the purine bases adenine and guanine, the pyrimidine bases cytosine and uracil, and phosphoric acid
See also messenger RNA, transfer RNA, ribosomal RNA, DNA1
RNA in American English
(ˌɑrˌɛnˈeɪ)
noun
a nucleic acid that is an essential component of all cells, composed of a long, usually single-stranded chain of nucleotide units that contain the sugar ribose; ribonucleic acid
see also messenger RNA, transfer RNA, ribosomal RNA
Examples of 'RNA' in a sentence
RNA
Only they were not creations of protein, lipids or RNA; they were only of light, or information coded into light.
Zindell, David THE BROKEN GOD
And once it tried and failed and tried and failed and tried and failed for a billion years or so, one of these RNA guys invented DNA.
Jacquelyn Mitchard A THEORY OF RELATIVITY (2001)
All related terms of 'RNA'
t-RNA
transfer RNA
soluble RNA
any of several soluble forms of RNA of low molecular weight, each of which transports a specific amino acid to a ribosome during protein synthesis
antisense RNA
molecules transcribed , not from DNA in the usual way, but from DNA strands complementary to those that produce normal messenger RNA . Antisense RNA occurs in nature and is inhibitory on gene action. It can be produced synthetically and offers such therapeutic possibilities as turning off viral genes
messenger RNA
a form of RNA , transcribed from a single strand of DNA , that carries genetic information required for protein synthesis from DNA to the ribosomes
ribosomal RNA
a type of RNA thought to be transcribed from DNA in the nucleoli of cell nuclei , subsequently forming the component of ribosomes on which the translation of messenger RNA into protein chains is accomplished
transfer RNA
any of several soluble forms of RNA of low molecular weight, each of which transports a specific amino acid to a ribosome during protein synthesis
RNA polymerase
any of various polymerases that help form RNA from DNA or RNA