Acid, nucleic

Acid, nucleic
One of the molecules in the chromosomes of living cells and viruses that plays a central role in the storage and replication of hereditary information and in the expression of this information through protein synthesis. The two chief types of nucleic acids are: {{}}DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) which contains the hereditary information in humans and RNA (ribonucleic acid) which delivers the instructions coded in this information to the cell’s protein manufacturing sites. History: In 1869 Friedrich Miescher developed ways of isolating intact nuclei from cells and analyzing their chemical content. From the nuclei he extracted substances rich in phosphorus and nitrogen. They came to be known as "nucleic acids." Miescher predicted that they would someday be considered as important as proteins. The substances turned out to be deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) which was found by Avery, MacLeod and McCarty in 1944 to be the genetic material. They proved this clearly by using bacterial DNA to change (transform) the genetic material of other bacteria.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • nucleic — NUCLÉIC, nucleici, adj. (În sintagma) Acid nucleic = acid organic complex care conţine în moleculă baze azotate de tip special, acid fosforic etc., având un rol fundamental în sinteza proteinelor din organism şi în transmiterea caracterelor… …   Dicționar Român

  • Acid — This article is about acids in chemistry. For the drug, see Lysergic acid diethylamide. For other uses, see Acid (disambiguation). Acidity redirects here. For the novelette, see Acidity (Novelette). Acids and Bases …   Wikipedia

  • Nucleic acid — One of the molecules in the chromosomes of living cells and viruses that plays a central role in the storage and replication of hereditary information and in the expression of this information through protein synthesis. The two chief types of… …   Medical dictionary

  • acid — acidly, adv. acidness, n. /as id/, n. 1. Chem. a compound usually having a sour taste and capable of neutralizing alkalis and reddening blue litmus paper, containing hydrogen that can be replaced by a metal or an electropositive group to form a… …   Universalium

  • acid — [[t]æ̱sɪd[/t]] ♦♦♦ acids 1) N MASS An acid is a chemical substance, usually a liquid, which contains hydrogen and can react with other substances to form salts. Some acids burn or dissolve other substances that they come into contact with.… …   English dictionary

  • Nucleic acid design — can be used to create nucleic acid complexes with complicated secondary structures such as this four arm junction. These four strands associate into this structure because it maximizes the number of correct base pairs, with A s matched to T s and …   Wikipedia

  • Nucleic acid — Nucleic acids are biological molecules essential for life, and include DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). Together with proteins, nucleic acids make up the most important macromolecules; each is found in abundance in all… …   Wikipedia

  • Nucleic acid thermodynamics — is the study of the thermodynamics of nucleic acid molecules, or how temperature affects nucleic acid structure. For multiple copies of DNA molecules, the melting temperature (Tm) is defined as the temperature at which half of the DNA strands are …   Wikipedia

  • Nucleic acid structure — refers to the structure of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA It is often divided into four different levels: Primary structure the raw sequence of nucleobases of each of the component DNA strands; Secondary structure the set of interactions… …   Wikipedia

  • Nucleic acid metabolism — is the process by which nucleotides are synthesized and degraded. Nucleic acid synthesis is an anabolic mechanism generally involving chemical reaction of phosphate, pentose sugar, and a nitrogenous base. Destruction of nucleic acid is a… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”