nuclease

American

[noo-klee-eys, -eyz, nyoo-] / ˈnu kliˌeɪs, -ˌeɪz, ˈnyu- /

noun

Biochemistry.

any enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of nucleic acids.

nuclease British

/ ˈnjuːklɪˌeɪz /

noun

any of a group of enzymes that hydrolyse nucleic acids to simple nucleotides

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of nuclease

1900–05; nucle(ic acid) ( def. ) + -ase

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Until now, researchers did not know which nuclease was responsible for triggering this destructive chain reaction, making it impossible to design therapies aimed at stopping it.

From Science Daily • Feb. 16, 2026

But soon after fertilization, the nuclease cuts the DNA sequence on the other chromosome from the parent that did not carry the gene at the precise location of the gene drive.

From Scientific American • Jan. 13, 2023

In the beginning there was zinc finger nuclease.

From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2022

The mismatch repair proteins detect this base and remove it from the newly synthesized strand by nuclease action.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

And the nuclease approach could not be used if all copies of mtDNA carry the same mutation.

From Nature • Jul. 7, 2020

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023