Question

What are nucleic acids? Mention their two important functions.

Answer 1

Nucleic Acids : Every generation of each species resembles its ancestors in many ways. The nucleus of a living cell is responsible for this transmission of inherent characters, also called heredity.

The particles in nucleus of the cell, responsible for heredity are called chromosomes which are made up of protein and another type of biomolecules called nucleic acids.

Nucleic acids are biopolymers (i.e., polymers present in the living system). They are also called polynucleotides since the repeating structural unit (monomeric unit) of nucleic acid is a nucleotide. Each nucleotide in made up of three parts, i.e., a sugar molecule, a heterocyclic nitrogenous base and phosphoric acid.

Two important functions of nucleic acids are :

(A) Replication : The process by which a single DNA molecule produces two identical copies of itself is called replication.

(B) Protein Synthesis : Another important function of nucleic acid is the protein synthesis in the cell. The proteins are synthesised by various RNA molecules in the cell but the message for the synthesis of a particular protein is present in DNA.