Amazing Facts about DNA

4Mar,2024

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DNA has a double helix structure, discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953. This iconic structure consists of two long strands that coil around each other.

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Double Helix Structure

The building blocks of DNA are nucleotides, each containing a sugar, a phosphate group, and one of four nitrogenous bases: adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), and guanine (G).

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Base Pairing

The sequence of these base pairs contains the genetic information that determines an organism's traits. The specific sequence of bases in a gene provides instructions for building and maintaining the organism.

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Genetic Code

The human genome consists of about 3 billion base pairs. It is estimated that if the DNA in one cell of the human body were stretched out, it would be several feet long.

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Genome Complexity

Despite its length, DNA is efficiently packaged within the cell nucleus. It achieves this through a complex folding and coiling process, allowing a vast amount of genetic information to be stored in a relatively small space.

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Compact Storage

Before a cell divides, its DNA must be replicated to ensure that each daughter cell receives a complete set of genetic information. This process is incredibly accurate, with an error rate of only about one mistake per billion nucleotides.

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DNA Replication