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In chemistry and biology, one of the most important and interesting research subjects is nucleic acids: DNA and RNA. The nucleic acids consist of very simple materials: phosphate, sugar, and organic bases. Their structures are also very simple as single strands or a double helix, in comparison with another biomolecules such as proteins and carbohydrates; however the nucleic acids have very important genetic information and functions.

As I mentioned in the Introduction in Chapter 1, there is close to 70 years history in nucleic acid research after the discovery of the double helix DNA structure (B-form) as the canonical one by James Dewey Watson and Francis Harry Compton Crick in 1953 and chemical biology of nucleic acids are facing to new aspect today, that is, non-canonical nucleic acids. Through this book, I expect that readers understand how uncommon structure of nucleic acids became one of the common structures as non-canonical nucleic acids that fascinate us now. This new research field for non-canonical nucleic acids will soon big-spark at the interface of chemistry and biology.

This book is comprised of 15 chapters covering various aspects of chemistry and biology of non-canonical nucleic acids including not only their history, structures, stabilities, and properties but also their functions on transcription, translation, regulation, telomere, helicases, cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, therapeutic applications, nanotechnology, and future outlook. This book is a valuable resource, not only for graduate students but also researchers in the fields of physical chemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, computational biology, molecular medicine, molecular biology, cell biology, and nanotechnology and who would like to learn more about the potential important roles of non-canonical nucleic acids as well as canonical ones.

I wish all readers enjoy this book and know the importance of not only Watson–Crick double helical nucleic acids (B-form) but also non-canonical nucleic acids like triplex and quadruplex. Instead of Hamlet by written by William Shakespeare, please answer the question “To B or not to B, that is the question” in the research field of nucleic acids.

I am deeply grateful to my colleagues in FIBER (Frontier Institute for Biomolecular Engineering Research), Konan University, for their excellent contribution to my writing as the co-authors at the following each chapter. They are Dr. Shuntaro Takahashi (for Chapters 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 14, and 15), Dr. Tamaki Endoh (for Chapters 2, 7, 10, 13, and 15), and Dr. Hisae Tateishi-Karimata (for Chapters 3, 6, 11, 12, and 15), whose efforts have immeasurably improved the quality and accuracy of the information. I am also deeply grateful to Ms. Miwa Inada for designing a lot of figures and Ms. Katherine Wong and Dr. Lifen Yang in Wiley for their editing this book and encouraging me.

Naoki Sugimoto

Frontier Institute for Biomolecular Engineering Research (FIBER)

Graduate School of Frontiers of Innovative Research

in Science and Technology (FIRST)

Konan University

Kobe, Japan