The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are the unique biopolymers responsible for storage and transfer of genetic information. They are ubiquitous in all living systems on earth.
DNA occurs in nature as a double helix, in which the two strands are held together by Watson-Crick A-T and G-C base-pairs while RNA occurs without a complementary strand.
Using the in vitro evolution technique (SELEX) DNA or RNA sequences could be selected that are capable of catalyzing a variety of chemical transformations, e.g. transesterifications and amide bond formation. Thus the nucleic acids are the only biopolymers that combine the potential of complementary replication (genotype) and catalysis (phenotype). They therefore may have played a dominant role in the origin of life on earth.
So, what is oligonucleotide?
Oligonucleotide is small pieces of DNA or RNA that can efficiently be synthesized by modern automated solid phase synthesis.
What is the function of oligonucleotides?
Today, such oligonucleotides are routinely used as tools in molecular biology, e.g. as primers for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Chemically modified oligonucleotides are of interest in medicinal chemistry as antisense agents. In this therapeutic approach the expression of a disease related protein in a cell is inhibited by targeting its message (mRNA) by an oligonucleotide.
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