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Components of Nucleic Acids

Nucleic acids are often called "the building blocks of life." It's an apt title considering that DNA contains all the information necessary to regulate the production of protein in your body and the other nucleic acids--RNA, mRNA and tRNA--are responsible for the trans-coding of the DNA. In short, you can trace many of your body's characteristics to the influence of its DNA and other nucleic acids.

  1. Monomers

    • Monomers are the basic building blocks of all nucleic acids. There are five monomers (or nucleotides) that combine in different ways to form the "rungs" or "steps" on the structure of the nucleic acid: cytosine, adenine, guanine, thymine and uracil. Uracil is special in the fact that it is not found in DNA and is only used by the various types of RNA.

    What About Chromosomes?

    • No talk of nucleic acids (DNA specifically) is complete without mentioning chromosomes. DNA and chromosomes are one and the same. Chromosomes are nothing more than tightly wound strands of DNA that form prior to a cell dividing. Therefore, you can safely say that monomers are also the building blocks of chromosomes.

    Monomer Building Blocks

    • Each of the five monomers (nucleotides) is made up of the same three components but in different amounts or in a different relative arrangement. If you break any of them down, you will be left with a five-carbon sugar molecule, the base (a nitrogen atom), and an ion of phosphoric acid.

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