17 interesting facts about Ribonucleic acid (RNA) that you should know

An important nucleic acid, RNA holds some interesting facts that you truly need to know.

RNA or Ribonucleic acid is defined as, "a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes".

While DNA gets all the limelight, RNA is equally important as it helps DNA to perform all the functions. It carries out instructions from the DNA genes and plays a key role in protein synthesis and many other bodily functions.

Here are some facts about RNA:

1. While DNA is a double-stranded molecule, RNA is a single-stranded biopolymer.
2. Like DNA, RNA is made up of a long chain of nucleotides.
3. There is a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar and a phosphate in each RNA nucleotide.
4. RNA's nitrogenous bases are adenine (a), guanine (g), cytosine (c) and uracil (u). While adenine pairs with uracil, guanine makes bond with cytosine.

The first three bases also exist in DNA. Uracil in RNA takes the place of Thymine in DNA.

5. While no single person can be credited for the discovery of RNA, we can say that the discovery of nucleic acid by Friedrich Miescher in 1868 led to the concept of RNA.
6. RNA's ribose sugar is a cyclical structure and it contains one oxygen and five carbons.
7. RNA is chemically more reactive than DNA.
8. RNA also helps in the process of DNA replication and gene regulation.
9. Transfer RNA (tRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), messenger RNA (mRNA) are some of the common types of RNA. tRNA and rRNA help in the building process of proteins in the cells.
10. Unlike DNA, mRNA can move and react with several cell enzymes.
11. Initially, the scientists believed that RNA's only role was in the central dogma. In that process, RNA is created by DNA and then translated into proteins. Later, they found that RNA performs many more functions.
12. To treat certain types of cancers, RNA is widely being used in gene therapy.
13. While DNA can only be found in the nucleus, RNA exists in both the nucleus and cytoplasm of a cell.
14. Depending on the functions, RNA can come in different forms and shapes.
15. About 5% of the total weight of a human cell consists of RNA. On the other side, 1% of it consists of DNA.
16. There are some living organisms that contain RNA as the only genetic material.
17. Just a fun fact, RNA is also referred to as "the chemical cousin of DNA".

RNA is truly amazing. In 1959, Severo Ochoa won a Nobel Prize in Medicine as he discovered an enzyme which can synthesize RNA.