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Synopsis Biochemistry today has made spectacular progress in unraveling the mysteries of animate nature. This progress has allowed us to gain deeper insight into the principles of vital activity and has to a very significant extent stimulated the development of applied disciplines, especially medicine. The present title "Biochemistry of Nucleic Acids" is intended for those who wish to understand living organisms, especially man. Biochemistry is essential for this purpose, but is would be almost impossible for a student to survey on his own the massive body of existing knowledge, constantly augmented by a remarkable torrent of brilliant discoveries. The purpose of the book, then is to organize our knowledge into something that can be comprehended in a relatively short time and still convey a reasonable complete picture of the chemical structure and function of man. Readability without sacrifice of coverage has been a prime goal. An important device in gaining that goal is to keep attention constantly focused on function, with repeated use of rationalization to show that the chemical facts are not isolated, but part of a whole.

Biochemistry has two major goals as a fundamental science, it treats the vital functions from the standpoint of physical chemistry and as an applied discipline, it points out practical applications for the wealth of scientific knowledge it has acquired. The dual purpose has been, as far as possible, take into account in the writing of this book. We have also tried to summarize our pedagogical experience in teaching biochemistry to students specializing in medicine and pharmacy. The materials of this book has been organized according to the principle of functionally in order to trace the close relationship between the functions of the living organism and the structures of its constituents molecules as well as the chemical and physico-chemical process in which they are involved.

The aim of this book is to present a core of biochemical knowledge that is desirable for students and also those involved in the field of medical, microbiology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical. Every attempt has been made to keep abreast of the advances in the subject and at the same time to include the fundamentals.