Molecule which encodes information about its source
In molecular biology and other fields, a molecular marker is a molecule, sampled from some source, that gives information about its source. For example, DNA is a molecular marker that gives information about the organism from which it was taken. For another example, some proteins can be molecular markers of Alzheimer's disease in a person from which they are taken.[1] Molecular markers may be non-biological. Non-biological markers are often used in environmental studies.[2]