Nucleic acids: What they are and what they do

Extract

The study of nucleic acids is without question one of the most vital fields in biochemistry today. The new discipline of “Molecular Biology” which has recently arisen is very largely concerned with the part that these chemicals play in living cells. This great upsurge of interest is perhaps to be understood when it is realized that it has now been established that nucleic acids carry the reserve of genetic information which directs and controls the development of any organism, and they are in addition intimately concerned with the actual mechanism of protein synthesis. Thus, they not only carry the blueprint of the design of an organism, they also control and carry out a good deal of the construction.