Nucleic acids: structure and function

This chapter talks about the structure and function of nucleic acids, citing examples of important drugs that act directly on nucleic acids. It describes two types of nucleic acid: DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). It also examines the primary structure of DNA which consists of a sugar–phosphate backbone with nucleic acid bases attached to each sugar moiety. The chapter highlights how the DNA double helix is coiled up into a tertiary structure, analyzing the coiling and uncoiling of the double helix that require topoisomerase enzymes. It looks at the genetic code that consists of nucleic acid bases, which are read in sets of three during the synthesis of a protein.