Question

List the criteria a molecule that can act as a genetic material must fulfill. Which one of the criteria is best fulfilled by DNA or RNA thus making one of them better genetic material than the other.

Answer 1

DNA and RNA are considered genetic matter. DNA is the genetic material present in the eukaryotic (animal and plant) cell nucleus and the prokaryotic cell cytoplasm (bacteria) that defines the organism's composition.

Complete Answer:
Basic criteria for genetic material ( i.e., the material that decides the functional organism's inherited characteristics):
- It has got to be stable.
- When required, it must be capable of being articulated.
- It needs to be capable of precise replication.
- It must be passed without alteration from parent to progeny.

Criteria for the role of a molecule as a genetic material:
1. Replication: The molecule should be able, by faithful replication, to replicate its genetic material. Both DNA and RNA display this property. This property is not demonstrated by proteins and other molecules found in living beings.

2. Stability: Genetic material stability should occur. With changed stages of life, the physiological age of living beings, it does not change its structure easily. Due to the presence of the 2'-OH group present in each nucleotide, RNA is responsible and readily degradable. It has become reactive, as RNA is catalytic. Since DNA is more stable than RNA, better genetic materials are said to be better. Presence of thymine instead of uracil is another explanation which leads to stability of DNA.

3. Mutation: It should be possible for genetic material to undergo mutation and this alteration should be inherited in a stable manner. Both DNA and RNA nucleic acids have the ability to mutate. Compared with DNA, RNA mutates at a faster rate. RNA genome viruses demonstrate mutation and adaptation at a faster rate and therefore have a shorter lifespan.

4. Genetic expression: RNA, in the form of proteins, quickly expresses characters. DNA requires RNA for protein formation. For genetic information storage, DNA being more stable is considered better than RNA. RNA provides better outcomes, however, for the transmission of genetic characters.

Note: DNA (genetic material) in a cell contains the instructions required to grow, survive and replicate an organism. DNA sequences must be translated into RNA to perform these functions, which produces proteins in a ribosome, which are the complex molecules that do much of the work in our bodies.