copy number

plural copy numbers

1. biologyThe number of copies of a gene or plasmid within a cell's genome.

   "Reconstruction" or "titration" experiments consisting of amounts of the linear cloned cDNA equivalent to various gene copy numbers in the genomic DNA are run on the same gel.

   1985, John H. Dodds, Plant Genetic Engineering, →ISBN, page 170

2. library scienceThe identification number assigned to a specific copy of a work.

   In other words, there was no way to correlate a book's barcode number, by which it was filed in the computer, to its copy number on the shelf list.

   1987, Terry D. Webb, The In-House Option: Professional Issues of Library Automation, →ISBN, pages 65–66