base pair

noun

, Genetics.

1. any of the pairs of the hydrogen-bonded purine and pyrimidine bases that form the links between the sugar-phosphate backbones of nucleic acid molecules: the pairs are adenine and thymine in DNA, adenine and uracil in RNA, and guanine and cytosine in both DNA and RNA.

base pair

1. Any of the pairs of nucleotides connecting the complementary strands of a molecule of DNA or RNA and consisting of a purine linked to a pyrimidine by hydrogen bonds. The base pairs are adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine in DNA, and adenine-uracil and guanine-cytosine in RNA or in hybrid DNA-RNA pairing. Base pairs may be thought of as the rungs of the DNA ladder.

Word History and Origins

Origin of base pair¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

These new technologies allow the jigsaw pieces to be thousands or even millions of base pairs long, making them easier to assemble.

From Singularity Hub 

After all, Z forms three hydrogen bonds with thymine, instead of the two hydrogen bonds that hold A–T base pairs together.

From Science News

They created an AI that mines enormous datasets to determine the most likely distance between a protein’s base pairs and the angles of their chemical bonds—aka, the basics of protein-folding.

From Singularity Hub 

Nanopore sequencing works by passing DNA molecules through a tiny hole and measuring the change in an electric current running across the hole’s surface to work out the sequence of base pairs in the molecules.

From Singularity Hub 

Not only did the insertion work, the extra base pair was kept by offspring of the original bacterium.

From The Daily Beast