With extensive coverage of synthesis techniques and applications, this text describes chemical biology techniques which have gained significant impetus during the last five years. It focuses on the methods for obtaining modified and native nucleic acids, and their biological applications. Topics covered include: chemical synthesis of modified RNAexpansion of the genetic alphabet in nucleic acids by creating new base pairschemical biology of DNA replication: probing DNA polymerase selectivity mechanisms with modified nucleotidesnucleic-acid-templated chemistrychemical biology of peptide nucleic acids (PNA)the interactions of small molecules with DNA and RNAthe architectural modules of folded RNAsgenesis and biological applications of locked nucleic acid (LNA)small non-coding RNA in bacteriamicroRNA-guided gene silencingnucleic acids based therapiesinnate immune recognition of nucleic acidlight-responsive nucleic acids for the spatiotemporal control of biological processesDNA methylationframeworks for programming RNA devicesRNA as a catalyst: The Diels-Alderase-Ribozymeevolving an understanding of RNA function by in vitro approachesthe chemical biology of aptamers: synthesis and applicationsnucleic acids as detection toolsbacterial riboswitch discovery and analysis The Chemical Biology of Nucleic Acids is an essential compendium of the synthesis of nucleic acids and their biological applications for bioorganic chemists, chemical biologists, medicinal chemists, cell biologists, and molecular biologists.