Final answer:
Nucleotides are essential components used to develop drugs for treating both cancer and viral infections, with modifications that allow them to interfere specifically with the proliferation of abnormal cells or viruses.
Step-by-step explanation:
Nucleotides are indeed recognized for their role in the treatment of cancer and viral infections, making the statement True. These compounds, which are the building blocks of nucleic acids, can be modified to create drugs that interfere with the DNA or RNA of cancer cells or viruses, preventing their proliferation. For instance, drugs that resemble the normal building blocks of DNA can be effective in stopping the spread of some cancers by altering the DNA structure of the abnormal cells. In terms of antiviral drugs, these often target specific viral proteins, encoded by viral genes, to inhibit replication without being toxic to healthy host cells. Antiretroviral drugs like reverse transcriptase inhibitors are used in the treatment of HIV, which is caused by a virus that uses reverse transcriptase to replicate its genetic material.