Nucleic Acids Essay

Nabil Ahmed Khatri: The Vital Nucleic Acids There are many vital substances in the world with jobs to let living things survive. Organic compounds, fall under these substances, are compounds whose molecules contain carbon. Nucleic acids are organic compounds. Nucleic acids are made up of phosphorus, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon. The main job of nucleic acids is to store and transmit genetic information. Monomer units of nucleic acids are called nucleotides. In general, there are two types of nucleic acids, though similar, they have their differences. Nucleic acids play a vital role in the survival of living things and without them, these things would cease to exist. The main job of nucleic acids is to store and transmit genetic information. Generally as noted before, there are two types of nucleic acids. There is RNA and there is also DNA. RNA stands for ribonucleic acid. On the other hand, DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It is quite ironic that even though people refer to DNA as very powerful, the survival of DNA lays on RNA. RNA is vital because without it, the DNA molecule would not be able to control all the activities of cells in an organism. Even though both are nucleic acids, they also have different structures in comparison. For example, DNA is made of many strands as many people know it to be. On the other hand, the RNA is made of one single strand. DNA contains genetic instructions for the body to use. DNA is vital before a baby’s birth, as well as through the progression of all living things. DNA has all the instructions written out for the body to use to grow, reproduce, etc. But RNA is different. RNA is actually the site of protein synthesis. In a cell, protein synthesis occurs within the nucleolus. Protein synthesis is another process vital to the survival of a cell.

1

Nabil Ahmed Khatri: The Vital Nucleic Acids Monomer units of nucleic acids are called nucleotides. Nucleotides are composed of a phosphate group, a five-carbon sugar, as well as a nitrogenous base. There are four different nitrogenous bases and each is found in a DNA molecule. These four types include adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. In a typical pair of bases, a cytosine is always attached to a guanine while an adenine is always attached to a thymine. As said before, the structures of DNA and RNA are similar but they do differ in structural ways said before. For example, RNA is a single-stranded molecule in most of its biological roles, not all. Also RNA has a much shorter chain of nucleotides. Also, while DNA contains deoxyribose, respectively labeled DNA, RNA contains ribose, respectively labeled RNA. Certain hydroxyl groups make RNA less stable than DNA because it is more vulnerable or prone to hydrolysis. Furthermore, the corresponding base to adenine is not thymine, as it is in DNA, but rather uracil. Nucleic acids play a vital role in the survival of living things and without them, these things would cease to exist. Nucleic acids are important, just like any other macromolecules that include carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. In general, there are two types of nucleic acids, though similar, they have their differences. Nucleic acids are made up of phosphorus, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon. The main job of nucleic acids is to store and transmit genetic information. Monomer units of nucleic acids are called nucleotides. Organic compounds, fall under these substances, are compounds whose molecules contain carbon. Therefore, there are many vital substances in the world with jobs to let living things survive, just like nucleic acids.

2

Nabil Ahmed Khatri: The Vital Nucleic Acids

3