Question:

What are nucleic acids ? Mention their two important functions.

Updated On: Sep 27, 2023
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Solution and Explanation

Nucleic acids are biomolecules found in the nuclei of all living cells, as one of the constituents of chromosomes. There are mainly two types of nucleic acids - deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). Nucleic acids are also known as polynucleotides as they are long-chain polymers of nucleotides. 

Two main functions of nucleic acids are: 

(i) DNA is responsible for the transmission of inherent characters from one generation to the next. This process of transmission is called heredity. (ii) Nucleic acids (both DNA and RNA) are responsible for protein synthesis in a cell. Even though the proteins are actually synthesised by the various RNA molecules in a cell, the message for the synthesis of a particular protein is present in DNA.

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Concepts Used:

Nucleic acids

Nucleic acids are explained as long-chain polymeric molecules, where the monomer (the repeating unit) is referred to as the nucleotides. Thus many times nucleic acids are referred to as polynucleotides. The two main kinds of nucleic acids are-

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

Chemically, DNA is a composition of a pentose sugar, phosphoric acid, and some cyclic bases that have nitrogen in them. DNA has β-D-2-deoxyribose in it, in the form of the sugar moiety.

Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)

The RNA molecule is a composition of phosphoric acid, a pentose sugar, and some cyclic bases containing nitrogen. The sugar moiety inside RNA molecules is β-D-ribose.