restriction enzyme

restriction enzyme (plural restriction enzymes)

1. (genetics) An endonuclease that catalyzes double-strand cleavage of DNA containing a specific sequence.
   • 1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial 2004, p. 244:

     We now know of 400 different kinds of restriction enzymes, each of which recognises a different sequence of DNA letters and cuts there, like a pair of scissors that cuts the paper only where it finds the word ‘restriction’.

• modification enzyme