Image credit: Genome Research Limited. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build that organism and allow it to grow and develop. The DNA code contains instructions needed to make the proteins and molecules essential for our growth, development and health.
How was DNA discovered to be the carrier of genetic information? Read on to find out The discovery of the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick in is one of the most famous scientific discoveries of all time.
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So the central dogma, so-called of molecular biology, is that genes, which are made of DNA, are made into messenger RNAs, which are then made into proteins. But for the most part, the observable traits of eye color or height or one thing or another of individuals come from individual proteins. Sometimes, we're learning in the last few years, actually, they come from RNAs themselves without being made into proteins--things like micro RNAs.
But those still are relatively the exception for accounting for traits. Deoxyribonucleic Acid DNA. Christopher P. 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.
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. An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. The acidity of DNA comes from this phosphate group. An acid is defined as a substance that releases protons. Phosphoric acid H 3 PO 4 , for instance, releases three protons.
The only difference between phosphoric acid and the phosphate group is the replacement of two protons with protons from the sugar molecule of the nucleotide. The remaining proton is what makes the entire molecule acidic. This DNA is cut in segments tightly coiled in the nucleus into structures called chromosomes.
In humans, DNA is stored in 23 pairs of chromosomes 46 in total. This means that all the cells in your body contain this number of chromosomes packed inside the nucleus. This number varies among organisms. Corn, for example, has 20 chromosomes total in each cell, while dogs have In its physical composition, DNA has the shape of a ladder that naturally coils into the famous double helix shape due to its weight and structure.
Then, aided by the work of other remarkable scientists, Watson and Crick were able to construct what we now know as the nucleic acid double helix.
Fortunately for us, all living things have DNA since they all need instructions on building their anatomies, configure their physiology, and pass on these instructions to their offspring.
Even microscopic organisms such as some viruses have DNA. All living organisms store their hereditary information in the form of DNA. This information includes all the instructions for every genetic trait, from skin color to blood type; it is stored in DNA segments. These segments are what we call genes. Think of it as the English alphabet letters. You can create two different stories with the same 26 letters.
The order or sequence of base pairs A-T and C-G varies from one organism to another. This sequence determines the instructions to produce insulin in humans and chlorophyll in plants, for example. But, if all cells in the human body have an exact copy of DNA, what is the difference between a bone cell and a skin cell, for example? That has to do with gene expression. Both cells activate the genes required for basic living processes, but only skin cells express the genes for skin proteins.
So bone and other genes are silenced in this case. You just saw how DNA has the same letters for all organisms. What is even more impressive is that the language of DNA is the same for all forms of life.
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