Question

RNA is less stable genetic material as compared to DNA. The reason for this is

• A. All of the above
• B. In RNA, $2$’ position has $-OH$ group while DNA does not
• C. RNA has uracil while DNA has thymine
• D. RNA is also known to be catalytic

Answer 1

The correct option is A All of the above

Part 1: Instability of RNA
RNA is ribonucleic acid and is involved in various biological processes such as metabolism, splicing, translation etc., which shows its importance in the life processes. However, RNA is not as stable as DNA. The reasons for this are -
● RNA has a $-OH$ group attached to the $2$’ carbon atom whereas DNA does not. The $2^{\prime }-OH$ group in RNA makes it more susceptible to hydrolysis, which reduces the stability of RNA.
● The catalytic nature of RNA also makes it more reactive and hence unstable. DNA is chemically more inert and is hence more stable.
● RNA consists of uracil in place of thymine. Uracil gets mutated easily, and makes RNA unstable.

Final answer
(d) All of the above