AXIT NUCLEIC la mot polyme sinh hoc dac biet , duoc tao thanh tu c ac mononucleotit ket hop voi nhau qua lien ket photphodyeste. ten cua no bat nguon tu tieng La Tinh "Nucleus" co nghia la nhan.

+ Thanh phan cua axit nucleic bao gom cac nguyen to:C,H,O.N,P trong do nguyen to P chiem ham luong tuong doi cao.

+ Phan tu khoi thi tuong doi lon khoang tu 2 trieu-10 trieu don vi cacbon. No duoc cau thanh boi cac monome la nucleot.

+ Tong axit nucleic chi chiem vai phan tram trong co the song. No co chuc nag luu giu va truyen tai moi thong tin cua te bao,dieu hoa hoat dong song cua te bao,du tru va cung cap nang luong, lam tac nhan sinh tong hop protein.

+ No duoccau tao boi cac monome la nucleotit, 1 nucleoti bao gom 3 phan:bazo nito,pentozo,axit photphoric. 3 chat nay ket hop voi nhau theo ti le 1:1:1

+ Su ket hop cua bazo nito - Pentozo tao ra nucleozit, su ket hop cua nucleozit - axit photphric tao ra nucleotit. Nhu vay tu nucleotit neu tach axit photphoric ta se duoc nucleozit.

+ Nucleotit co chuc nang tham gia cau tao nen cac coenzim, du tru va van chuyen nang luong hoa hoc,dieu hoa hoat do enzim trong te bao, la chat trung gian cho nhieu hoat dong cua hoocmon.

+ Dua vao dac diem cua duong Pentozo nguoi ta chia axit nucleic thanh 2 loai:ADN va ARN.

 ADN la san pham trung ngung cua cac deoxiribonucleotit phan tu khoi dat toi hang chuc trieu don vi cac bon,co chuc nang luu giu thong tin di truyen do ADN chua tat ca cac thong tin di truyen.
 ARN la poliribonucleotit,co thanh phan duong la ribozo,phan tu chi ci 1 chuoi,no khac voi ADN co tu 2 chuoi tro len. No co chuc nang truyen nhung thong tin chua trong ADN den te bao chat.

+ De phan biet ADN va ARN nguoi ta dung cac phan ung dac trung voi thuoc thu orxin tao thanh mau xanh luc ben, deoxiribozo ADNphan ung voi diphenylamin tao thanh mau xanh da troi ben.