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.

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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.

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Nabil Ahmed Khatri: The Vital Nucleic Acids