Oligonukleotiden

Oligonukleotiden, often shortened to oligos, are short, single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules. They are typically synthesized artificially in a laboratory, although they occur naturally in biological systems. The length of an oligonucleotide can range from a few nucleotides to about fifty, though this definition can be flexible. The building blocks of these molecules are nucleotides, which consist of a phosphate group, a sugar molecule (deoxyribose for DNA, ribose for RNA), and a nitrogenous base (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine in DNA; adenine, guanine, cytosine, uracil in RNA).

The primary utility of synthetic oligonucleotides lies in their precise base pairing capabilities, following the rules of Watson-Crick base pairing. This property makes them indispensable tools in molecular biology and biotechnology. They are widely used as primers in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify specific DNA sequences, as probes in hybridization experiments to detect complementary sequences, and in gene sequencing techniques. Furthermore, they are crucial components in the development of gene therapy and diagnostics, including the creation of antisense oligonucleotides and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that can modulate gene expression. Their synthesis is a well-established process, allowing for the creation of sequences with high fidelity and purity.