Molecular imprinting technology was used to create polymeric receptors for the DNA and RNA bases. The binding affinity and selectivity of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) methacrylic acid (MAA) imprinted copolymers were evaluated chromatographically. Specific binding was found for adenine, cytosine, and guanosine derivatives. These bases contain a 2-aminopyridine substructure previously found important for the binding and specificity of polymers imprinted with 9-ethyladenine. Thymine and uracil derivatives, which do not contain the 2-aminopyridine substructure, exhibited little specific binding to the imprinted polymers. The magnitude of the binding affinity for each of the nucleoside derivatives to its own imprinted polymer follows the order A > G > C > T, U. This differs from the order of binding between butyric acid and the RNA base derivatives in solution (G > C > A > U : Lancelot, G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1977, 99, 7037) or between control polymers that contain randomly distributed carboxylic acid groups and the DNA and RNA bases (C greater than or equal to A > G > T, U).