Like all fatty acids, the building blocks of fats and oils, omega - 3s are linear molecules with a carboxylic acid head at one end trailing a tail of linked carbon atoms. (scientificamerican.com)
Only a certain type of linear molecule would produce the spectral pattern the chemists were seeing. (scientificamerican.com)
Szostak had started a bold project aimed to construct artificial chromosomes that would enable scientists to clone a large cluster of human genes — 10 to 20 — on a single linear molecule of DNA in yeast cells. (laskerfoundation.org)