Nucleic acids–Essentially the “instructions” or “blueprints” of life.
Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is the unique blueprints to make the proteins that give you, your traits.
Half of these blueprints come from your mother, and half from your father.
Therefore, every person that has ever lived–has his or her own unique set of blueprints–or instructions–or DNA.
A nucleic acid is an organic compound, such as DNA or RNA, that is built of small units called nucleotides. Many nucleotides bind together to form a chain called a polynucleotide.
Nucleic acids play an essential role in transmission of the hereditary characteristics and the biosynthesis of proteins. The genetic information coded in nucleic acids programs the structure of all proteins including enzymes and thereby all metabolic activity of living organisms.
The main difference between DNA and RNA is the sugar present in the molecules. While the sugar present in an RNA molecule is ribose, the sugar present in a molecule of DNA is deoxyribose. Deoxyribose is the same as ribose, except that the former has one more OH.
DNA does not usually exist as a single molecule, but instead as a tightly-associated pair of molecules. These two long strands entwine like vines, in the shape of a double helix. This arrangement of DNA strands is called antiparallel. The asymmetric ends of DNA strands are referred to as the 5' (five prime) and 3' (three prime) ends. One of the major differences between DNA and RNA is the sugar, with 2–deoxyribose being replaced by the alternative pentose sugar ribose in RNA. The four bases found in DNA are adenine (abbreviated A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T). A fifth pyrimidine base, called uracil (U), usually takes the place of thymine in RNA and differs from thymine by lacking a methyl group on its ring.