NHGRI logo
Thymine_hero

​Thymine

updated: March 19, 2024

Definition

Thymine (T) is one of the four nucleotide bases in DNA, with the other three being adenine (A), cytosine (C) and guanine (G). Within a double-stranded DNA molecule, thymine bases on one strand pair with adenine bases on the opposite strand. The sequence of the four nucleotide bases encodes DNA’s information.

 Thymine


Narration

Thymine. Thymine, like several other nucleotides, also is used in metabolism, and has more functions than just being in DNA.

Lawrence Brody
Lawrence Brody, Ph.D.

Director

Division of Genomics and Society