Here's why:

* Deoxyribose is a five-carbon sugar that is a key component of DNA.

* Ribose is a five-carbon sugar that is found in RNA.

* The difference between deoxyribose and ribose is that deoxyribose lacks an oxygen atom at the 2' carbon position. This is why DNA is called "deoxyribonucleic acid."

The deoxyribose sugars in DNA are linked together by phosphate groups, forming the sugar-phosphate backbone. The nitrogenous bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine) are attached to the deoxyribose sugars, forming the "rungs" of the DNA ladder.