Nucleic acid Nucleic acid Nucleic acids are the biopolymers, or small biomolecules, essential to all known forms of life. The term "nucleic acid" is the overall name for DNA and RNA. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. If the sugar is a compound ribose, the polymer is RNA (ribonucleic acid); if the sugar is derived from ribose as deoxyribose, the polymer is DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Nucleic acids are the most important of all biomolecules. They are found in abundance in all living things, where they
Vaccenic acid acid in osteoblasts. Oxidation of omega-7 unsaturated fatty acids on the skin surface, such as palmitoleic acid and vaccenic acid, may be the cause of the phenomenon commonly known as old person smell. Vaccenic acid Vaccenic acid, also known as ("E")-octadec-11-enoic acid is a naturally occurring trans-fatty acid found in the fat of ruminants and in dairy products such as milk, butter, and yogurt. It is also the predominant fatty acid comprising trans fat in human milk. Its IUPAC name is ("E")-11-octadecenoic acid, and its lipid shorthand name is 18:1 "trans"-11. The name was derived from the Latin "vacca" (cow).