Editing Nucleic acid sequence (section)

== Biological significance ==
[[File:Kooditabel.png|200px|thumb|A depiction of the [[genetic code]], by which the information contained in [[nucleic acid]]s are [[Translation (genetics)|translated]] into [[amino acid]] sequences in [[protein]]s.]]

{{Further|Genetic code|Central dogma of molecular biology}}

In biological systems, nucleic acids contain information which is used by a living [[Cell (biology)|cell]] to construct specific [[protein]]s. The sequence of [[nucleobase]]s on a nucleic acid strand is [[Translation (genetics)|translated]] by cell machinery into a sequence of [[amino acid]]s making up a protein strand. Each group of three bases, called a [[codon]], corresponds to a single amino acid, and there is a specific [[genetic code]] by which each possible combination of three bases corresponds to a specific amino acid.

The [[central dogma of molecular biology]] outlines the mechanism by which proteins are constructed using information contained in nucleic acids. [[DNA]] is [[Transcription (genetics)|transcribed]] into [[mRNA]] molecules, which travel to the [[ribosome]] where the mRNA is used as a template for the construction of the protein strand. Since nucleic acids can bind to molecules with [[Complementarity (molecular biology)|complementary]] sequences, there is a distinction between "[[Sense (molecular biology)|sense]]" sequences which code for proteins, and the complementary "antisense" sequence, which is by itself nonfunctional, but can bind to the sense strand.