Nucleic Acid
Nucleic acids are large biological molecules essential for all known forms of life. They include DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). Together with proteins, nucleic acids are the most important biological macromolecules; each is found in abundance in all living things, where they function in encoding, transmitting and expressing genetic information.
Nucleic acids were discovered by Friedrich Miescher in 1869. Experimental studies of nucleic acids constitute a major part of modern biological and medical research, and form a foundation for genome and forensic science, as well as the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
Read more about Nucleic Acid: Occurrence and Nomenclature, Molecular Composition and Size, Topology, Nucleic Acid Sequences
Other articles related to "nucleic acids, nucleic acid, acids, acid":
... dogma of molecular biology In biological systems, nucleic acids contain information which is used by a living cell to construct specific proteins ... The sequence of nucleobases on a nucleic acid strand is translated by cell machinery into a sequence of amino acids making up a protein strand ... called a codon, corresponds to a single amino acid, and there is a specific genetic code by which each possible combination of three bases corresponds to a specific amino ...
... A nucleic acid is a complex, high-molecular-weight biochemical macromolecule composed of nucleotide chains that convey genetic information ... The most common nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) ... Nucleic acids are found in all living cells and viruses ...
... Nucleic acid electrophoresis is an analytical technique used to separate DNA or RNA fragments by size and reactivity ... Nucleic acid molecules which are to be analyzed are set upon a viscous medium, the gel, where an electric field induces the nucleic acids to migrate toward the anode, due to the net ... sole factor in determining electrophoresis of nucleic acids ...
... polymers, so their primary structure can often be specified by the sequence of amino acids along their backbone ... In particular, the L-amino acids normally found in proteins can spontaneously isomerize at the atom to form D-amino acids, which cannot be cleaved ... a negative charge at that site and producing an unnatural amino acid ...
Famous quotes containing the word acids:
“The new American finds his challenge and his love in the traffic-choked streets, skies nested in smog, choking with the acids of industry, the screech of rubber and houses leashed in against one another while the townlets wither a time and die.”
—John Steinbeck (1902–1968)