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What is DNA
The
Building Blocks of Life
DNA is also known as deoxyribonucleic acid, pronounced
dee-ox-ee-rye-bo-noo-clay-ic acid. It is a large molecule,
shaped like a double helix and found primarily in the
chromosomes of the cell nucleus.
The DNA contains the genetic information of the cell. The DNA
forms a double helix, two elongated molecular chains (like
staircases) that wrap around each other.
Our genetic code consists of approximately 3 billion letters
that make up the instructions for all human genes. While this
code varies among individual humans by only about 1%, these
variations are a key factor in understanding what makes us
susceptible to disease and what determines our lifespan and
how we age.
The sections of DNA called genes instruct our cells to make
proteins, which perform all of the body’s essential tasks,
like breathing, and determine physical features, such as hair
color. There are approximately 100,000 genes residing within
each double helix of DNA.
DNA tells our cells what they have been, what they will
continue to be, and what they will become.
The DNA is the blueprint for our life processes. Each cell of
our bodies contains the complete genetic code for the whole
body. Human DNA is generally divided into 46 chromosomes
(in pairs), each one containing characteristic genes that
distinguish one chromosome from another. Derived from the
Greek words "Chromo" for color and "Soma" for body, they are
intensely colored bodies in our cells. One member of each pair
comes from the mother through the egg and one member of each
pair comes from the father through the sperm.
Human DNA is about 3 billion "base" pairs long. If you
stretched the human chromosome out end-to-end, it would be
about 6 feet. All 46 chromosomes are folded into a space of a
few thousandths of a millimeter (super coil).
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