Delphinidin

Nucleic acids are exceptionally large, complex polymers originally thought to be confined to the nuclei of cells but now known also to be associated with other cell parts. They are vital to the normal internal communication and functioning of all living cells. The two types of nucleic acids—deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules consist of double helical (spiral) coils of repeating subunits called nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of three parts:

1. a base containing nitrogen
2. a five-carbon sugar
3. a phosphate (phosphoric acid) molecule

The phosphate of one nucleotide is attached to the sugar of the next nucleotide. Four kinds of nucleotides, each with a unique nitro genous base, occur in DNA. DNA molecules contain, in units known as genes, the coded information that precisely determines the nature and proportions of the myriad substances found in cells and also the ultimate form and structure of the organism itself.

If this coded information were written out, it would fill over 1,000 books of 300 pages each—at least for the more complex organisms. DNA molecules can replicate (duplicate themselves) in precise fashion. When a cell divides, the hereditary information contained in the DNA of the new cells is an exact
copy of the original and can be passed on from generation to generation without change, except in the event of a mutation.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is similar to DNA but differs in its sugar and one of its nucleotide components. It usually occurs as a single strand. Different forms of RNA are involved in protein synthesis.