Importance Of Nucleic Acid

First let us accurately address what a nucleic acid is. Nucleic acids are complex organic compounds that exist in all living organisms. They are huge molecules called polymers, composed of smaller units called monomers. A nucleotide is composed of a simple sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogen base. Johann Friedrich Miescher a Swiss biochemist discovered nucleic acids in 1869. The backbone of the nucleic acid is made up of alternating sugars and phosphates; attached to each sugar is a nitrogen base. Read three at a time the bases are called a codon. Codons translate into amino acids, and amino acids form thousands of different proteins. A single nucleic acid can have millions of bases bonded to it.
The first type of nucleic acid is called …show more content…
A functional protein is not a long string of amino acids but a complex three dimensional structure. Each protein must be folded into a specific shape to perform its function. The information for the correct folding of the protein could be in the amino acid sequence itself, or possibly a chaperone helps the protein fold. It is possible that while the amino acid chain is forming it may start folding incorrectly. Sometimes it will join other not fully formed amino acid chains; when this happens it is called an aggregate. Chaperons help protect this from happening, as an aggregate can be fatal to the cell. If a protein folds incorrectly it is simply rendered useless. Scientists do not yet completely understand how a protein gets its final shape or what it is determined by. Folding is a complex process that has many factors determining the …show more content…
Nucleotides are the monomers which make up the huge polymers that we call nucleic acids. Nucleic acids play huge and important roles in our cells, and in passing on our genetic information to our offspring. The different types of nucleic acids have different duties within the cell. DNA which is found mainly in the nucleus of the cell, holds the genetic information. MRNA is the complementary base copy of DNA that carries the blueprint to the ribosome. TRNA finds the correct amino acid that the codon on the mRNA calls for and brings it to the ribosome. The rRNA makes up the ribosome and it is what glues the amino acids together into long chains. The final stage is folding what shape a protein will end up as is complex and not fully understood. However, the basic structures are primary, which is a long chain of amino acids. The secondary structure could be an alpha helix or beta sheet. The tertiary which is a fully formed three dimensional structure. Finally, the quaternary structure is the number and arrangement of multiple folded tertiary subunits combining to form a quaternary