restriction enzyme
noun1
Biology, Genetics, Medicine, Natural sciences, Sciences An endonuclease that catalyzes double-strand cleavage of DNA containing a specific sequence.
- We now know of 400 different kinds of restriction enzymes, each of which recognises a different sequence of DNA letters and cuts there, like a pair of scissors that cuts the paper only where it finds the word ‘restriction’.1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 244:
- Related terms
- modification enzyme