Nucleic acids

From ArticleWorld

Nucleic acids are complex macromolecules that are made up of chains of nucleotide monomers. They are the carriers of genetic information in organisms and found most commonly in the form of deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA and ribonucleic acid or RNA.

Structure

The name nucleic acid is derived as these compounds are typically found in the nucleus of cells. The monomeric units are called nucleotides and consist of a base, a sugar and a phosphate group. In RNA the sugar found is a ribose sugar. The bases are adenine, guanine, cytosine and uracil. In DNA the only difference is in the absence of uracil and the presence of thymine as well as in the type of sugar found which for DNA is a deoxyribose sugar. DNA is usually a double helix structure whereas RNA is typically a single strand.

The reason postulated for the presence of uracil in RNA is that it is cheaper in terms of energy to produce it. Its absence in DNA is attributed to the fact that cytosine can degrade to uracil and this may create problems in the detection anomalies that need to be repaired. This is not an issue with RNA as it is not required to have as long a lifespan as DNA.

Related fields

Nucleic acids are essential as they store and transmit genetic information. This makes them molecules of interest and they are indeed the topic of much research in many branches of biology. They are studied in fields such as molecular biology where their extraction and analysis is carried out in order to determine their functions as well as their interaction with other molecules. They are also studied in genetics and biochemistry. Information on nucleic acids may also provide valuable knowledge to evolutionary studies as well.