Nucleic Acid

Nucleic Acids

by Lily Masina

​Nucleic Acids

• Nucleic acids store, transmit, and help express hereditary information. Nucleic acids are polymers made of monomers called nucleotides.

Multiple Choice

What do nucleic acids transmit and store?

• Hereditary Information

• Lots and Lots of Money

• Amino Acid Chains

• Polypeptides

​Their Roles

There are two types of nucleic acids; deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and Ribonucleic acid (RNA). These enable living organisms to reproduce their complex components from one generation to the next. DNA is genetic material inherited through bloodlines.

Multiple Select

What are the two forms of Nucleic Acids?

• MRNA

• RNA

• DNA

• AFK

​Components

Nucleic acids are macromolecules that exist as polymers called polynucleotides. A nucleotide is composed of nitrogen-containing (nitrogenous) base, a five carbon sugar, and one of three phosphate groups.

Multiple Select

What are nucleotides made up of?

• Amino acids

• Nitrogenous Bases

• A Five Carbon Sugar

• A phosphate group

​Structures of DNA and RNA

​DNA Molecules have two polynucleotides, or "strands", that wind around an imaginary axis, forming a double helix. Two sugar-phosphate backbones run in opposite 5' --> 3' directions form each other. This referred to as anti-parallel.

Multiple Choice

What is the arrangement of the two sugar-phosphate backbones called?

• X-ray Crystallography 

• Gene Expression

• Purines

• Antiparallel