Two nucleic acids, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), are found in living things which serve to store, translate, and pass on the genetic information of an organism to the next generation. Nucleic acids are universal to all life, in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, as well as in viruses. The mitochondria of eukaryotic cells also contain some DNA, known as mitochondrial DNA.