Cover images v; Murray Robertsonivisual elements 1998-99, taken froin the 109 Visual Elements Periodic Table, available...
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Cover images v; Murray Robertsonivisual elements 1998-99, taken froin the 109 Visual Elements Periodic Table, available at www.chemsoc.orgivise1ements
ISBN 0-85404-481-7 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
8cThe Royal Society of Chemistry 2004 All rights reserved Apurt,fj.om uny,fuir dealing,fiw the purposes qf'research or privute study, or criticism or revien.s us pernzittcd under the terms qf' tlzc U K Copyright, Designs und Putents A c t . 1988, this puhlicatioii muy not he reproduced, .slored or trun.c.mittcvl,in uny ,forni or hy any means, without theprinrpc.rmission in writing of' The R o ~ aSociety l qf'Chernistry, OY in the case of reprographic reprocluctior?only in accordance ,t.itli the terms oftlie licvncw issued by the Copyright Licensing Agenc i the U K , or in accordance \t.itli the terms of the liceenc ~ issucd s by the lippropria te Repro duct ion Rights 0rgan iza t ion outs i r k the CJK. Equiries concerning reproduct ion oulside the terms stutcd k c w should hc sent to The Royul Society of Chemistry at tlw ciddress printed on this page. Published by The Royal Society of Chemistry, Thomas Graham House. Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 OWF, U K Registered Charity No. 207890 For further information see our web site at www.rsc.org Typeset in Great Britain by Alden Bookset, Northampton Printed and bound by Italy by Rotolito Lombarda
Preface The nucleic acids are, in the main, informational macromolecules. DNA encodes the instructions that are passed on from parents to progeny, so that the offspring of two human beings is another human being, rather than any other life form. The related molecule RNA serves the same function in some viruses, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HTV). The nucleic acids are, therefore, responsible for the continuation of all forms of life on this Earth, and as such are the subject of enormous interest to biologists. Why should the student of chemistry be interested in them? The answer is that the biological roles of the nucleic acids can only be understood in terms of their chemical structures, and chemists have played a central part in establishing those structures and the understanding of how they function. The main objectives of this book are to explain what those structures are, how they were determined, and how function can be understood in terms of structure. Although the nucleic acids are interesting substances in their own right, the real fascination of their study comes from the interplay between their chemistry and biology. Indeed, it is not really possible to disentangle the two, since some of the modern methods for the determination of the structures of nucleic acids make use of their biological properties. Nucleic acid chemistry cannot, therefore, be fully understood without some knowledge of the underlying biology. Consequently, some of the more important aspects of the fields of molecular biology and genetics are covered in Chapter 1, and in boxed inaterial throughout the rest of the book for the benefit of those readers who lack the necessary background knowledge. There is also a substantial amount of material in this book about the history of the subject. Study of the structure and function of nucleic acids has occupied the attention of a large number of enormously talented scientists over the last 130 years. This is reflected in the very large number of Nobel Prizes that have been awarded in the field. A proper understanding of the present state of our knowledge of the nucleic acids is, I believe, greatly illuminated by knowing something of how we arrived at it. It is, by any criterion, a remarkable story of scientific endeavour. Shawn Doonan London
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