Macromolecule 4: Nucleic Acids

Nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides.Nucleotides are composed of a phosphate group, a sugar and a nitrogen base. There are 5 types of nitrogenous bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, and uracil. Uracil is only found in RNA (a very important nucleic acid that allows genetic information to leave the nucleus and be used by other cellular organs-specifically ribosomes-to code for protein synthesis).
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the nucleic acid found in the nucleus of all eukaryotic cells. It contains the code of life. In this nucleic acid, two anti-parallel strands of amino acids are connected to one another by hydrogen bonds. Adenine bonds to thymine with two hydrogen bonds while guanine and cytosine are connected by three hydrogen bonds. The structure is similar to that of a twisted ladder.