Purification of nucleic acids from gels

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are macromolecules composed of single or double strands of nucleotides, with each nucleotide consisting of nitrogenous base (a derivative of purine [adenine and guanine] or pyrimidine [thymine, uracil, and cytosine]) and a sugar (a pentose deosyribose or ribose, together refereed to as nucleoside) as well as a phosphate group. Although the first isolation of DNA was reported by Friedrich Miescher in 1869, it was only in 1953 that the molecular structure of DNA duplex was elucidated by James Watson and Francis Crick. This landmark discovery uncovered the role of DNA as the chmical bearer and transmitter of hereditary features and expedited the development of contemporary molecular biology and biotechnology, with its full impact yet to be felt in the years to come.