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Nucleic acid: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As nuclein

Photos and Videos

Diagram of a DNA polynucleotide chain showing linked deoxyribose sugars, phosphate groups, and nitrogenous bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine), with an inset comparing ribose and uracil in RNA.
Diagram of a DNA double helix segment showing two strands with labeled components: adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), guanine (G), phosphate groups (P), and deoxyribose sugars (S). The bases pair across the strands, and the 3' and 5' ends are indicated at each strand's termini.
The initial proposal of DNA structure
Diagram showing DNA winding around blue histone octamers to form nucleosomes, which coil together into a solenoid chromatin fiber. An inset highlights DNA wrapped around a single histone octamer.
Diagram illustrating semiconservative DNA replication, showing a double helix unwinding into two template strands. New nucleotides are added by DNA polymerase to form leading and lagging strands, with Okazaki fragments joined by DNA ligase. Helicase, single-strand binding proteins, and the replication fork are labeled.
RNA polymerase II; messenger RNA
Diagram showing the process of crossing over during meiosis, where homologous chromosomes exchange genetic material, followed by two cell divisions that result in four genetically unique haploid daughter cells.
How DNA's double helix structure was discovered
Large biological molecules: Carbs, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids
Study how bacteriophages replicate by injecting nucleic acid into a bacteria cell to create virions
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Har Gobind Khorana
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Gilbert, Walter
Walter Gilbert
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Klug, Aaron
Aaron Klug
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Phoebus Levene
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Kossel, Albrecht
Albrecht Kossel
German biochemist
Miescher, Friedrich
Friedrich Miescher
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