What is DNA? – An Answer

The impact of DNA discoveries cannot be properly estimated. You have probably heard about DNA in one environment or another in life. It has caused huge changes in the ways health issues are understood and the way crime investigations are performed. The amazing fact about this important discovery is that it is impossible to see with the naked eye. In fact, only the most powerful microscopes can detect this substance.

What is DNA?

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. However, DNA is actually composed of multiple substances, the most important of which are the four nucleotides: Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine. These four nucleotides are found grouped together in long strands known as DNA helixes. Every chromosome in your body is made up of thousands of these strands. The chromosomes are located in the nucleus of your body’s cells.

Base Pairing

The incredibly long strands of DNA contain many base pairs. These pairs are made between the four nucleotides. Guanine binds only to Cytosine and Adenine binds only to Thymine. Combinations of these pairs create the biological effects which give rise to the entire body of a living creature, including the human brain.

Coding for Proteins

The job of DNA is to retain the codes which act as the blueprint for your body. They hold onto this information inside the nucleus of every cell. However, cells do not live forever and must replicate themselves frequently. Given that there are perhaps a trillion cells in the average human body, there are millions of such replications taking place at any time.

DNA cannot fit through apertures of the nucleus. In order to replicate itself, it must split in two and spool out into the cytoplasm where it encounters cell organs known as ribosomes. At these locations, the halves of the DNA helixes act as codes which trigger other cell bodies to supply the missing nucleotides. When this action is complete, the cell can divide into two new cells.

The codes carried by DNA strands are responsible for creating all the tissues on your body. Because there are so many variable factors involved, it is essentially impossible for one person to have the exact same DNA as someone else. Even identical twins will have certain divergences in their DNA codes due the recombinant nature of the division of DNA.