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Nucleic acids are biomolecules found in the nuclei of allliving cells, as one of the constituents of chromosomes. There are mainly twotypes of nucleic acids − deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid(RNA). Nucleic acids are also known as polynucleotides as they are long-chainpolymers of nucleotides.
Two main functions of nucleic acids are:
(i) DNAis responsible for the transmission of inherent characters from one generationto the next. This process of transmission is called heredity.
(ii) Nucleicacids (both DNA and RNA) are responsible for protein synthesis in a cell. Eventhough the proteins are actually synthesised by the various RNA molecules in acell, the message for the synthesis of a particular protein is present in DNA.