Molecular biology was first referred to as the study of the chemical and physical structure of biological macromolecules such as nucleic acids and proteins. Nucleic acids, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are polymers that consist of nucleotides. Proteins are polymers that consist of several amino acids. DNA and RNA encode the genetic information that specifies the primary structure of the proteins unique to the organism. Thus, a study of the interrelation between nucleic acids and proteins may provide an understanding to the biological function of a gene.