Advances in Nucleic Acid Biochemistry: From Structural Insights to Gene Therapy

This chapter reviews recent structural and functional discoveries in DNA and RNA biochemistry, including RNA modifications, R-loops, G-quadruplexes, and ribozyme catalysis, and their implications for genome stability and gene regulation. It further examines the rapidly advancing field of nucleic acid therapeutics, encompassing mRNA-based medicines, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, siRNA, and antisense oligonucleotide technologies, with an emphasis on their biochemical underpinnings and therapeutic applications.