Nucleic acids are chained nucleotides, which can reach large sizes and are those cells that contain the genetic information of the living being that carries them. Commonly, it is known as DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid), and the man who discovered them was Friedrich Miescher, during the year 1869. Carbohydrate and nitrogenous bases are the elements that help to differentiate between the two acids. Nucleotides, for their part, are made up of monosaccharides, phosphate and a nitrogenous base. DNA and RNA complement each other, since the first carries the information and the second is the one that ensures that the rest of the body complies with it.
DNA is arranged on one strand, as mentioned above, in two long strands, which can be linear (prokaryotic) or circular (eukaryotic). It is of utmost importance for the organism, then, it is the one that contributes and transmits most of the information that develops the biological characteristics that an individual possesses; in addition to this, it sets in motion the activities of other cells, making use of RNA in many cases. Its structure is somewhat complex, presenting a primary and a secondary, which is subdivided into small helixes of different appearance.
Meanwhile, RNA is the compound that is responsible for carrying the information of some processes to the ribosomes and, like deoxyribonucleic acid, it is composed of nucleotides. Its nitrogenous bases are not A, G, C, T, but A, G, C, U. It is normal to find it synthesizing in the nuclei of cells (although this does not occur in prokaryotic cells).
