extrachromosomal

[ ek-struh-kroh-muh-soh-muhl ]

adjective

, Genetics.

1. of or relating to DNA that exists outside the main chromosome and acts independently.

Word History and Origins

Origin of extrachromosomal¹

First recorded in 1935–40; extra- + chromosomal ( def )

Example Sentences

These chains—the longest extrachromosomal genetic material ever found—most likely enter single-celled archaea and help them break down methane.

From Scientific American

“I don’t think anything else that’s been discovered is as big as these guys are,” among previously known extrachromosomal DNA elements, Doolittle says.

From Science Magazine

Scientists first noticed this so-called extrachromosomal DNA five decades ago.

From New York Times

Those clumps went by many names over the years, such as double minutes and extrachromosomal DNA.

From New York Times

By the 1960s, he had worked out how to extract and isolate the extrachromosomal packets of bacterial DNA that we now call plasmids, and found that these carry information from one microbe to another.

From Nature