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According to the New World Encyclopedia: Ribose, primarily seen as D-ribose, is a water-soluable, pentose sugar (monosaccharide with five carbon atoms) that is an important component of nucleic acids, nucleotides, the vitamin riboflavin, and various co-enzymes. Ribose has the chemical formula C5H10O5. This ubiquitous sugar and its derivatives are fundamental to key biological processes throughout nature and reflect a commonality among all living organisms. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a nucleic acid based on the sugar ribose. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid based on the closely related sugar deoxyribose. The bases in these nucleic acids (adenine, uracil, guanine, and cytosine in RNA, and thymine instead of uracil in DNA) represents the genetic information in living cells. As a component of RNA, which is used for genetic transcription, ribose is critical to living creatures. Ribose is also a component of the nucleotide ATP, the coenzyme NADH, and several other chemicals that are critical to metabolism. More info at http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ribose.

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15y ago

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