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It uses laborious chemical synthesis to make mirror-image forms of short strands of DNA or RNA called aptamers, which bind to therapeutic targets such as proteins in the body to block their activity. The firm has several mirror-aptamer candidates in human trials for diseases including cancer; the idea is that their efficacy might be improved ...
First, an RNA polymerase along with general transcription factors binds to the promoter region of the gene to form a closed complex called the preinitiation complex. The subsequent transition of the complex from the closed state to the open state results in the melting or separation of the two DNA strands and the positioning of the template ...
The presence of this functional group causes the helix to mostly take the A-form geometry, [11] although in single strand dinucleotide contexts, RNA can rarely also adopt the B-form most commonly observed in DNA. [12] The A-form geometry results in a very deep and narrow major groove and a shallow and wide minor groove. [13]
Other segments of DNA are transcribed into RNA molecules called non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Both DNA and RNA are nucleic acids, which use base pairs of nucleotides as a complementary language. During transcription, a DNA sequence is read by an RNA polymerase, which produces a complementary, antiparallel RNA strand called a primary transcript.
All living cells contain both DNA and RNA (except some cells such as mature red blood cells), while viruses contain either DNA or RNA, but usually not both. [15] The basic component of biological nucleic acids is the nucleotide, each of which contains a pentose sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), a phosphate group, and a nucleobase. [16]
A second version of the central dogma is popular but incorrect. This is the simplistic DNA → RNA → protein pathway published by James Watson in the first edition of The Molecular Biology of the Gene (1965). Watson's version differs from Crick's because Watson describes a two-step (DNA → RNA and RNA → protein) process as the central ...
DNA is composed of base pairs in which adenine pairs with thymine and guanine pairs with cytosine. While DNA serves as template for production of ribonucleic acid (RNA), RNA is usually responsible for making protein. The process of making RNA from DNA is called transcription. RNA uses a similar set of bases except that thymine is replaced with ...
The properties of RNA make the idea of the RNA world hypothesis conceptually plausible, though its general acceptance as an explanation for the origin of life requires further evidence. [21] RNA is known to form efficient catalysts, and its similarity to DNA makes clear its ability to store information.