What is the difference between a nucleoside and a nucleotide?

Nucleotides are responsible for forming nucleic acids, while nucleic acids become the sub-units of nucleosides. In short, nucleosides are formed from nucleotide bases. Both nucleosides and nucleotides are related to genetics.

Genetics, the study of heredity, focuses on how certain traits are passed to offspring from their parents. Traits include physical characteristics, such as eye color, height, skin color and hair type. Sometimes, mutations are passed from parents to offspring, resulting in extra appendages or additional chromosomes. It is possible for mutations to cause no issues for the offspring, but they are also known to cause genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis and autism.