cDNA

1. complementary DNA: a DNA molecule that is complementary to a specific messenger RNA.

cDNA

abbreviation for

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

cDNA

1. Abbreviation of complementary DNA

Word History and Origins

Origin of cDNA¹

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

The primer tries to connect itself to cDNA from the virus and make a copy.

From Scientific American

The company’s test created cDNA, which is a clone or copy of the DNA, to test for the mutations.

From Seattle Times

Finally, to assess the effect of each variant on expression, we tested for a significant difference between the cDNA and gDNA alternate allele proportions with a two-sided t-test.

From Nature

Approximately half of the cDNA product was used for library construction, and indexed libraries were generated using 18 cycles of PCR.

From Nature

The protocol employed cDNA synthesis with random primers followed by gene specific multiplex PCR and is presented in detail in ref.

From Nature