repetitive DNA

Cultural  

1. Stretches of DNA that repeat themselves throughout a genome, either in tandem or interspersed along the genome. These stretches can comprise up to fifty percent or more of an organism's DNA. It can code for an end product, perhaps a certain enzyme that is needed in large numbers; it can have a structural function (such as a telomere); or it can comprise sequences with no known function.

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Example Sentences

The team analyzed both the size of DNA fragments and their distribution throughout the genome, including repetitive DNA regions that have rarely been studied.

From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2026

By listening to a long string of genetic code, “you can easily distinguish repetitive DNA sequences from more complex DNA sequences,” Temple said.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2023

The C-Fern appears to have gained its large genome primarily from repetitive DNA and transposable elements — “jumping genes” that often move around in chromosomes, with a function that is poorly understood.

From New York Times • Sep. 12, 2022

The newly added sequence, amounting to nearly 10 percent of the human genome, includes some genes and large amounts of repetitive DNA, the trickiest genomic regions to sequence.

From Scientific American • Mar. 31, 2022

Y-STR stands for Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat polymorphism, bits of repetitive DNA often used in forensic investigations.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 10, 2021