uracil

Etymology

From uro- + ac(etic) + -ile. Coined in 1885 by the German chemist Robert Behrend, who was attempting to synthesize derivatives of uric acid.

noun

  1. (organic chemistry) One of the bases of RNA, pairing with adenine.
    We did have some success with uracil when we would preincorporate the uracil into a mutant of E. coli that had a uracil requirement and then feed this cellular content from E. coli. 2013, W. C. Corning, Stanley C. Ratner, Chemistry of Learning: Invertebrate Research, page 191

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