Editing Nucleic acid (section)

==Occurrence and nomenclature==
The term ''nucleic acid'' is the overall name for DNA and RNA, members of a family of [[biopolymer]]s,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Elson D | journal = [[Annual Review of Biochemistry]] | volume = 34 | pages = 449–86 | year = 1965 | pmid = 14321176 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.bi.34.070165.002313 | title = Metabolism of Nucleic Acids (Macromolecular DNA and RNA) }}</ref> and is a type of ''[[polynucleotide]]''. Nucleic acids were named for their initial discovery within the [[Cell nucleus|nucleus]], and for the presence of phosphate groups (related to phosphoric acid).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dahm R | title = Discovering DNA: Friedrich Miescher and the early years of nucleic acid research | journal = Human Genetics | volume = 122 | issue = 6 | pages = 565–81 | date = January 2008 | pmid = 17901982 | doi = 10.1007/s00439-007-0433-0 | publisher = nih.gov | s2cid = 915930 }}</ref> Although first discovered within the [[cell nucleus|nucleus]] of [[eukaryote|eukaryotic]] cells, nucleic acids are now known to be found in all life forms including within [[bacteria]], [[archaea]], [[mitochondrion|mitochondria]], [[chloroplast]]s, and [[virus]]es (There is debate as to [[Life#Viruses|whether viruses are living or non-living]]). All living cells contain both DNA and RNA (except some cells such as mature red blood cells), while viruses contain either DNA or RNA, but usually not both.<ref name="Brock, Thomas D.; Madigan, Michael T. 2009">{{cite book | vauthors = Brock TD, Madigan MT |title=Brock biology of microorganisms |publisher=Pearson / Benjamin Cummings |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-321-53615-0 }}</ref>
The basic component of biological nucleic acids is the [[nucleotide]], each of which contains a [[Pentose|pentose sugar]] ([[ribose]] or [[deoxyribose]]), a [[phosphate]] group, and a [[nucleobase]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chem.ucla.edu/harding/ec_tutorials/tutorial84.pdf |title= Knowing Nucleic Acids |author= Hardinger, Steven |author2= University of California, Los Angeles |publisher= ucla.edu |year= 2011|author2-link= University of California, Los Angeles }}</ref>
Nucleic acids are also generated within the laboratory, through the use of [[enzyme]]s<ref>Mullis, Kary B. The Polymerase Chain Reaction (Nobel Lecture). 1993. (retrieved December 1, 2010) http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1993/mullis-lecture.html</ref> (DNA and RNA polymerases) and by [[solid-phase synthesis|solid-phase chemical synthesis]].