the.com/nucleic acid
The molecule that figured out how to photocopy itself before anyone invented photocopiers.
means A large molecule, built from chains of nucleotides, that stores or helps express genetic information — DNA and RNA being the two main types.
from Coined in the late 1800s after Friedrich Miescher isolated a mysterious phosphorus-rich substance from the nuclei of white blood cells and named it 'nuclein.' Chemists later identified its acidic nature, and 'nuclein' became 'nucleic acid' — the name tracking its discovery address: the cell's nucleus. The word nucleus itself traces back to Latin nux, 'nut,' via nucleus, 'kernel' — so at its root, nucleic acid is simply the acid found in the kernel of the cell.
- two types
- DNA stores, RNA does the errands
- building blocks
- just four letters, infinite combinations
- discovered
- found in cell nuclei in 1869
- backbone
- sugar and phosphate, literally spineless chemistry