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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repetitive DNA

Some organisms have large stretches of repetitive DNA, while yeast uses extremely small and simple versions known as "point" centromeres.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 10, 2026

Knowing ferns often have notably long stretches of repetitive DNA, the team turned to the fork fern for analysis.

From Science Magazine ● May 31, 2024

But more than 50 percent of the Y chromosome remained unknown because of the challenges posed by its highly repetitive DNA.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 27, 2023

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