All about DNA
By CH Woods
DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule (the smallest physical unit of a substance that can exist independently, consisting of one or more atoms held together by chemical forces) that holds the genetics of organisms. Organisms include people, animals, bacteria, plants and others.
DNA is in every single cell of an organism and tells the cell exactly what proteins should be made. A cell's proteins are responsible for carrying out the cell’s purpose. DNA is passed down to children from the parents. Genetics are why children share certain features with their parents, like skin and eye color. The DNA that makes your body looks the way it does is a blend of the DNA from each of your parents.
History of DNA: The German biochemist known as Frederich Miescher first discovered DNA back in the 1800s. However, nearly a century passed after the discovery until scientists were able to understand DNA and recognize it as a key factor in the field of biology. For quite some time, scientists debated over which element transported an organism's biological instructions.
The majority of believed that DNA was too basic to have such an essential role. Rather, they suggested that proteins were much more likely to perform this vital purpose due to their greater complexness and broader number of forms.
The significance of DNA became clear in 1953 as a result of the work done by Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins. By researching X-ray bending or spreading out of wave’s behavior, the scientists discovered the double helix part of DNA, which is a structure that allows DNA to carry biological instructions from one generation to the next.
Where and what is DNA?: DNA is found within a particular part of the cell referred to as the nucleus, which is the brain of the cell. Each chromosome, which is a rod-shaped structure, usually found in pairs in a cell nucleus, that carries the genes that determine sex and the characteristics an organism inherits from its parents, has many genes. Chromosomes come in two: one part from the father and the other part from the mother. Aside from the nucleus, human beings, along with other living organisms, also have a little bit of DNA in parts of the cell generally known as mitochondria.
Mitochondria create the energy the cell must have in order to perform properly. In sexual reproduction, organisms receive half their nuclear DNA from the female parent and the other half from the male parent. On the other hand, organisms receive their entire mitochondrial DNA from the female. This happens because egg cells, not sperm cells, maintain their mitochondria through the fertilization process.
Creation of DNA: DNA is made from building blocks known as nucleotides. DNA has the shape of a double helix, which looks like a ladder twisted with another into a spiral shape. Each step of the twisted ladders is a pair of nucleotides. Nucleotides are created from: deoxyribose (type of sugar), a phosphate group (oxygen and phosphorus), and a nitrogenous base.
The four types of nucleotides are:
- Adenine (A)
- Cytosine (C)
- Guanine (G
- Thymine (T)
Every DNA order has instructions to create a protein known as a gene. The entire DNA instruction book, called the genome, for a human is made up of about twenty-three pairs of chromosomes.
Purpose of DNA: DNA is made up of the instructions required for an organism to survive, develop, and reproduce. To undertake these biological tasks, DNA orders need to be changed into messages which can be used to create proteins. Proteins are the complex molecules that perform almost all of the work in our body as instructed by our DNA.
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