Antisense strand

Definition

The antisense strand is one of the two strands of DNA that serves as the template for RNA during transcription. It is complementary to the sense strand, which contains the genetic code for proteins.

Related terms

Transcription:

The process by which a segment of DNA is copied into RNA by the enzyme RNA polymerase.

Sense strand:

The strand of DNA that has the same sequence as the resulting mRNA and codes for a protein, except it contains thymine instead of uracil.

RNA polymerase: An enzyme that synthesizes RNA from a DNA template during transcription