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amino acid definition

amino acid

  1. any of a large group of organic acids containing a carboxyl group, COOH, and an amino group, NH
  2. any of the 25 amino acids that link together into polypeptide chains to form proteins that are necessary for all life: in general, they are water-soluble, crystalline, amphoteric electrolytes having mirror-image isomeric forms with right and left optical activity: ten of these (essential amino acids) cannot be synthesized by the human body and must be consumed

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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