complementary DNA

American  

[kom-pluh-men-tuh-ree dee-en-ahy] / ˈkɒm pləˌmɛn tə ri ˈdiˈɛnˈaɪ /

noun

1. cDNA.

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complementary DNA British  

noun

1.  cDNA.  a form of DNA artificially synthesized from a messenger RNA template and used in genetic engineering to produce gene clones

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complementary DNA Scientific  

1. Single-stranded DNA synthesized in the laboratory using messenger RNA as a template and the enzyme reverse transcriptase. Complementary DNA is used for many purposes such as mapping chromosomes, creating clones, and sequencing genes.

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Etymology

Origin of complementary DNA

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

PPRHs are single-stranded DNA molecules, known as oligonucleotides, that can bind precisely to complementary DNA or RNA sequences.

From Science Daily • Oct. 22, 2025

DNA polymerase recognizes the 3'-OH end as its landing site; thus, polymerase “reads” the template strand in the 3' to 5' direction and builds the complementary DNA polymer in the 5' to 3' direction.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The samples would be warmed up again, and enzymes would get to work building off those primers to finish replicating the complementary DNA sequences.

From Scientific American • Feb. 16, 2022

Projecting a deep whole-genome shotgun assembly, complementary DNA and deep RNA sequence data onto this framework supports 79,379 transcript clusters, including 26,159 ‘high-confidence’ genes with homology support from other plant genomes.

From Nature • Dec. 5, 2012

The overwhelming biological merits of a self- complementary DNA molecule made him effectively concede the race.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson