Scribd
Upload
34 views6 pages

What Do You Need To Know

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material found in humans and most organisms. It contains genetic instructions in the form of a code made from four chemical bases that line up in pairs to form a spiral double helix structure. Each cell contains a full set of DNA instructions and DNA can make copies of itself through replication, which is essential when cells divide and produce new cells that also require a full copy of the genetic code.

Uploaded by

recquelle dano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
34 views6 pages

What Do You Need To Know

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material found in humans and most organisms. It contains genetic instructions in the form of a code made from four chemical bases that line up in pairs to form a spiral double helix structure. Each cell contains a full set of DNA instructions and DNA can make copies of itself through replication, which is essential when cells divide and produce new cells that also require a full copy of the genetic code.

Uploaded by

recquelle dano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

DNA

What do you need to know.


◦ DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms.
Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where
it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is
called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA). Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy
from food into a form that cells can use.
`

◦ The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G),
cytosine ©, and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of
those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information
available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet
appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.
◦ DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form units called base pairs. Each base is
also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are
called a nucleotide. Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix.
The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladder’s
rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.
◦ An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. Each strand of DNA in
the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells
divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell.

You might also like