In the 1940s scientists discovered that DNA is made up of molecules called nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of three different materials: a base, a sugar, and a phosphate. The key to understanding how DNA worked seemed to lie among the base materials. A chemist named Rosalind Franklin then discovered that DNA strands seemed to be in a spiral shape, but again, no one knew why. Watson and Crick described the shape they had found as a double helix. A double helix looks like a twisted ladder that spirals around and around. Each rung of the ladder is made of one of the four nucleotide bases. The secret of DNA, or what Crick called "the secret of life" is that every A molecule on one side of the rung always connects to a T on the other side, while every G molecule connects to a C. The key to understanding how DNA works is A to understand that each base only connects to another specific base. B to understand more about the sugar in each nucleotide. to understand that it looks like a twisted ladder that spirals around. D to understand the role of the phosphate in each nucleotide.
Nucleotides
It is an organic molecule made up of three basic components- a nitrogenous base, phosphate,and pentose sugar. The nucleotides are important for metabolic reactions andthe formation of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid).
Nucleic Acids
Nucleic acids are essential biomolecules present in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and viruses. They carry the genetic information for the synthesis of proteins and cellular replication. The nucleic acids are of two types: deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). The structure of all proteins and ultimately every biomolecule and cellular component is a product of information encoded in the sequence of nucleic acids. Parts of a DNA molecule containing the information needed to synthesize a protein or an RNA are genes. Nucleic acids can store and transmit genetic information from one generation to the next, fundamental to any life form.
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