nucleicadj.

1892 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 62 224 The preparation of nucleïc acid from nucleïn by Altmann..gives a further means of distinguishing between the two groups.

1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 165 Nuclein, which consists of an organic phosphorus-containing acid, termed nucleic acid, in combination with proteid.

1908 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 4 p. l Glycoproteins. Compounds of the protein molecule with a substance or substances containing a carbohydrate group other than a nucleic acid.

1942 Endeavour 1 104/1 Nucleic acid renders a further invaluable service—it makes the chromosomes visible.

1960 L. Picken Organization of Cells iv. 126 The Watson and Crick helical model of nucleic acid suggests that accurate replication of a unique serial order of nucleotides might readily occur if the two helical chains could be partially uncoiled, so that each might serve as a mould for a new chain.

1972 Sci. Amer. June 41/3 The only other compounds that are as important in living systems are the nucleic acids, which are the repository of genetic information and direct the synthesis of proteins.

1985 Cambr. Encycl. Life Sci. iii. 106/1 Mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence.

1967 J. Miles Kinds of Affection 55 Mind starts in the dark to see what it can see, Its hope marked plainly in nucleic code.

1985 Mutation Res. 148 107 It is not known how nucleic base analogs induce chromosome mutations.

1991 J. Caldwell Oxf. Hist. Eng. Music I. vii. 404 The latter, a setting of a poem once attributed to Donne, shows Gibbons' ‘nucleic’ approach to melodic construction.

1992 R. Advani in First Fictions Introd. 11 48 The egg..protected itself from multiple entry by a circular ring which allowed only one sperm to break through into its nucleic paradise.

1998 Newsweek 11 May 37/2 Unlike nucleic DNA.., mitochondrial DNA can remain intact inside bones and teeth for centuries.