Kilobázis

Kilobázis is a unit of length used in molecular biology to express the size of DNA, RNA, or entire genomes. In Hungarian-language scientific writing, kilobázis corresponds to the English kilobase (kb). It provides a convenient scale for discussing genetic material.

One kilobázis equals 1,000 base pairs in double-stranded DNA. Since a base pair consists of two nucleotides, 1 kilobázis is effectively 2,000 nucleotides. When referring to single-stranded molecules, the length can be given in nucleotides, with the same prefix meaning 1,000 bases. The common abbreviation in practice is kb or kbp.

Kilobázis is used to report gene lengths, distances between genetic markers, and overall genome sizes. It is a familiar unit in sequencing projects, genome assemblies, and comparative genomics. Larger scales are expressed with megabázis (Mb, 1,000 kilobázis) and gigabázis (Gb, 1,000,000 kilobázis).

Examples help illustrate the scale. The human genome is about 3,000,000 kilobázis (approximately 3 gigabases) for a haploid genome and about 6,000,000 kilobázis for a diploid genome. Kilobázis remains a standard unit in descriptions of gene length, genomic maps, and sequence data, balancing readability with precision in genomic quantities.