Nucleic Acid Labeling & Detection

Nucleic acids refer to biomolecules composed of nucleotides. A nucleotide is the name of a nucleic acid monomer which consists of a 5-carbon sugar base bound to a nitrogenous base and a phosphate group. The type of nucleotide is based on the type of nitrogenous base that is bound. For deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) the four predominantly found bases are guanine, adenine, cytosine, and thymine. For ribonucleic acids (RNA) the four main bases are guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil. Both DNA and RNA are part of the central dogma of molecular biology and are studied extensively. Nucleic acids are also used for research and therapeutic purposes. In order to study and use nucleic acids, it is important to have a system of nucleic acid labeling. Nucleic acid labeling can also be used to track nucleic acids.