Meaning & use
Oligo
Last updated
A short chain of nucleotides (an oligonucleotide), commonly used as an informal term in molecular biology.
See it in a sentence
The lab ordered a custom oligo to use as a PCR primer.
Researchers designed several oligos to target different regions of the gene.
A note on using this word
'Oligo' is shorthand widely used in genetics and biotech labs, from the Greek 'oligos', meaning 'few' or 'small'.
Words with a similar meaning
oligonucleotide
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