Explain briefly Nucleic Acids (DNA & RNA)?
Nucleic Acids (DNA & RNA) : Nucleic acids are the molecules that contain genetic information that is inherited, and are responsible for controlling a cell's activities through enzyme (protein) synthesis. There are two types of nucleic acid: deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, which contains the genetic information that contains instructions for the synthesis of amino acids into polypeptides, and ribonucleic acid, or RNA, to which DNA transfers information for protein synthesis.
Nucleic acids include the largest molecules formed by organisms. In contrast with the carbohydrate glucose, which has a molecular weight of 180, DNA may have a molecular weight in the hundreds of millions. We will examine the structure of DNA and RNA, and the factors that determine what DNA will be expressed, or used to build proteins.