Complementary Base Pairing

What is Complementary Base Pairing?

The rule that governs which bases can face each other across the two strands of a DNA molecule: adenine always pairs with thymine, and cytosine always pairs with guanine, with bonds holding each pair together. Because the pairing is fixed, the base sequence of one strand completely determines the base sequence of the other, and any complete double-stranded DNA sample must contain equal numbers of A and T bases and equal numbers of C and G bases.

This definition is part of the Inheritance chapter in Cambridge O Level Biology.

Concepts related to Complementary Base Pairing

• base pair
• double helix
• nucleotide
• Gene