How are DNA and RNA different
2 answers:
A few key differences:
- DNA and RNA are abbreviations for <em>deoxyribonucleic acid </em>and <em>ribonucleic acid</em> respectively. This difference has to do with the fact that DNA contains a sugar called <em>deoxyribose </em>while RNA's sugar is simply <em>ribose</em>.
- DNA has a <em>double-helical </em>structure while RNA is a single strand (resembling a single strand off a DNA's double helix). See the attached image for an illustration of this structure.
- The bases of DNA are <em>guanine, cytosine, adenine, </em>and <em>thymine</em>. In RNA, by contrast, thymine is replaced by <em>uracil</em>.
- Functionally, DNA is a kind of storage unit for genetic information. RNA <em>uses </em>this information to build proteins, copying it from the master copy contained in the DNA and converting it to a form the ribosomes can use.
<em>(Image source: ThoughtCo)</em>
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