ABSTRACT
Nucleic acids ar e nitrogen - an d phosphorus-containin g component s o f al l l ivin g
organisms an d encod e th e geneti c informatio n necessar y fo r th e propagatio n o f
specific lif e forms . I t i s sai d tha t nuclei c acid s wer e discovere d b y th e Swis s
chemist Friedric h Miescher , w h o wa s especiall y activ e i n thi s are a in 1860 s an d
1870s. I t took man y year s thereafter t o determin e th e exac t nuclei c acid composi -
tion, t o identif y unambiguousl y th e rol e a s geneti c material , a nd t o elucidat e th e
three-dimensional structur e and mod e o f replication .
