Introduction
The Building Blocks of Nucleic Acids
This guide will focus on the "central dogma" of molecular biology. We will
review the processes responsible for replicating the nucleic acid
DNA, transcribing DNA
into
RNA, and translating an
RNA sequence into a functional protein.
Knowledge of these topics is critical before a more complex understanding of
advanced molecular biology topics is possible. Just as importantly, knowledge
of these topics is fundamental to understanding what inside our bodies allowed
us to grow as humans and why our growth is different from that of other
organisms.
Figure BG.1: The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology
DNA is the nucleic acid that is responsible for "programming" many or our
traits. As the material that composes our genes, DNA has become one of the most
fundamental molecules in molecular biology. In Molecular Genetics, we will
address some fundamentally important questions. We will learn how DNA, our
genetic material, is copied and passed on from generation to generation. We
will also address the issue of how the genetic information encoded into a DNA
sequence is used in organisms to express certain proteins, the major
constituents of cells. In addressing these major questions, we will also see
how these processes are not perfect and look at how organisms protect against
mutations that could potentially kill cells.
In this topic section, Structure of Nucleic Acids, we will begin our discussion
at a more elementary level, investigating the structure of the nucleic acids DNA
and RNA. As DNA and RNA are the major molecules of molecular biology,
understanding their structure is critical to understanding the mechanisms of
gene replication and protein synthesis. The structural elements of each of
these molecules play key roles in their performance of the various processes of
the central dogma.
