Ribonucleic acid, better known as RNA or RNA, is an organic chemical compound that can be found in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, in addition to being the genetic code of some viruses. It is one of the substances that actively participate in the synthesis of proteins, controlling part of the phases that it goes through when its creation occurs. It is also considered one of the most important carriers of information within the body and together with DNA, it works to start up several of the most important cells that can be found.
Friedrich Miescher was the man who discovered ribonucleic acid, in 1867, and chose the name nuclein for it, for having isolated it starting from a cell nucleus; however, later investigations revealed that it was also in prokaryotic cells, which do not have a nucleus. RNA is made up of a series of nucleotides which, in turn, have components such as monosaccharides, phosphates and a nitrogen base. It comes from genes present in DNA, from which a kind of strand emerges that serves as a template for the new ribonucleic acid.
There are different types of RNA, among which are the messenger (carries the information about the amino acids to the ribosomes, so that the protein synthesis occurs), transfer (transfers amino acids), the ribosomal (the one that combines with certain proteins to create ribosomes), regulators (complement other cells or mRNA), interference (exclude some specific genes) and antisense (small strands of mRNA).
