Deoxy sugar, also known as deoxyribose, is a monosaccharide (simple sugar) that is a component of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). It is similar in structure to the pentose sugar ribose, which is found in RNA (ribonucleic acid), but has one less oxygen atom. Specifically, the 2'-hydroxyl group of ribose is reduced to a hydrogen atom in deoxyribose. This structural difference affects the overall charge and stability of the molecule, and contributes to the unique properties of DNA compared to RNA. Deoxyribose plays a crucial role in the formation of the sugar-phosphate backbone of DNA, which provides the structural framework for the genetic information encoded in the base sequence of the molecule.