cDNA
Science & Engineering abbreviation · Genetics
| Stands for | Complementary DNA |
|---|---|
| Categories | Science & Engineering |
cDNA stands for Complementary DNA, a genetics abbreviation.
DNA synthesized from an RNA template by the enzyme reverse transcriptase. Because it is copied from messenger RNA, cDNA contains only the expressed, spliced coding sequence of a gene, without introns, which makes it the starting point for gene cloning, RT-PCR and RNA sequencing.
Example: The cDNA was cloned into an expression vector to produce the protein in bacteria.
Usage notes
Bacteria cannot remove introns, so human genes are expressed in them from cDNA rather than genomic DNA, the approach used to make recombinant insulin. In 2013 the US Supreme Court ruled in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics that naturally occurring DNA cannot be patented, but synthetic cDNA can.
Related abbreviations
More genetics abbreviations
- AD – Autosomal dominant
- AR – Autosomal recessive
- atDNA – Autosomal DNA
- BAC – Bacterial artificial chromosome
- BLAST – Basic Local Alignment Search Tool
- bp – Base pair
- ChIP-seq – Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing
- cM – Centimorgan
- CNV – Copy-number variation
- CpG – Cytosine-phosphate-guanine (site)
- dsDNA – Double-stranded DNA
- eQTL – Expression quantitative trait locus