1.1

• Types of nucleic acids found within cells of higher organisms

  • Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
  • Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
• DNA


  • Nearly all the DNA is found within the cell nucleus
  • Its primary function is the storage and transfer of genetic information
  • This information is used (indirectly) to control many functions of a living cell
  • DNA is passed from existing cells to new cells during cell division
• RNA


  • RNA occurs in all parts of a cell
  • It functions primarily in synthesis of proteins, the molecules that carry out essential cellular functions
• Nucleic acid molecules


  • They are polymers
  • The monomer units are nucleotides
• Scientists obtained the first evidence that nucleic acids are responsible for the storage and transfer of genetic information


  1944
• This evidence was obtained 75 years after the discovery of nucleic acids