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About Nucleic Acid

Nucleic acids, mainly DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid), are the hereditary factors responsible for the passage of traits from progenitor to offspring. They form the smallest units in a cell, are present in pairs and are arranged in linear series. Nucleic acids are the carriers of information from cell to cell, and from one generation to the next.

  1. DNA Chemistry

    • DNA consists of thread-like particles of high molecular weight. These thread-like particles are called nucleotides, which are linked together and form the nucleic acid. A nucleotide is composed of a five-carbon sugar molecule, known as "pentose," a nitrogen base and phosphoric acid. In an intact DNA molecule, the nitrogen base remains attached to the pentose. It contains four bases, namely adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine.

    RNA Chemistry

    • In most organisms, RNA exists as a single-strand chromosome, but it may wind back on itself in several places, producing helixes as found in DNA. It possesses four bases--adenine, guanine, uracil and cytosine. RNA is associated with storing and carrying its genetic information in some organisms, but in all organisms, it would perform different important functions during protein synthesis.

    Differences Between DNA and RNA

    • Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are the two types of nucleic acids present in a nucleus. DNA is found in chromosomes, which are rod- or ring-shaped units in the nucleus, while RNA is mostly found in the cytoplasm--the part of a cell that is enclosed by the cell membrane, but outside of the nucleus--with only a small percentage of it found in the chromosomes. Deoxyribose sugar is found in DNA, but ribose sugar is found in RNA. DNA is double stranded in a helix while RNA is single stranded. In RNA, the four bases are adenine, guanine, uracil and cytosine, but in DNA, the uracil base is replaced by thymine.

    Messenger RNA

    • Messenger RNA, or mRNA, was discovered in 1956 by two famous biologists: Elliot Volkin and Lazarus Astrachan. The mRNA carries the genetic information contained in DNA and makes up a small fraction (5 percent to 10 percent) of the total RNA present in the cell. The mRNA acts as a template for the translation of DNA code into a specified protein molecule. The mRNA are short-lived and therefore have a rather rapid turnover.

    Functions of Nucleic Acid

    • Nucleic acid plays an important role in the synthesis of enzymes as well as in cell differentiation. It contributes to the development of organisms and in the transfer of parental characteristics to offspring. Nucleic acid brings variations to all organisms, resulting in evolution. Nucleic acid is also involved in the determination of gender.

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