Final answer:
Option B. Alkylating agents disrupt RNA and DNA synthesis by chemically modifying DNA, resulting in miscoding and mutations, and are widely used in chemotherapy. Unlike intercalating antitumor antibiotics, alkylating agents lack targeting specificity and can induce significant toxicity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Alkylating agents interfere with RNA and DNA synthesis. These agents chemically modify the DNA by adding alkyl groups to the guanine bases, leading to miscoding and potentially harmful mutations. Alkylating agents, like cyclophosphamide, are well-known in the pharmacology of chemotherapy and are used to combat various cancers by disrupting DNA replication, which ultimately affects both DNA and RNA synthesis. Unlike antibiotics that specifically target microbial infections with lesser toxicity, alkylating agents lack specificity and therefore can cause significant side effects.
Intercalating agents such as anthracyclines, which are a different class of antitumor drugs like doxorubicin, also interfere with DNA functions by inserting themselves between base pairs, disrupting essential processes like DNA and RNA synthesis and topoisomerase II activity, which can lead to DNA strand breakage. Therefore, the answer to the question is B) Alkylating.