Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is the current blueprint for life on Earth¹. Deoxyribonucleic acid is a complex molecule, which normally occur in two chains. These chains are in the form of a tightly packed, super coiled double helix. These chains are made by repeating the same basic units over and over. Each unit of the chain contains the following three parts :-

• 1. A phosphate backbone, connected to
• 2. A Ribose sugar
• 3. A Base

Of these only the bases hold the genetic information. The phosphate and the sugar just form a skeleton on which to hang the bases.

Anatomy

You have a lot of DNA, an awful lot. In each cell in your body there is enough DNA to reach, if streched out, to reach the top of Everest. To keep all this in such a small space as the nucleus, there is an awful lot of clever folding going on. DNA, as is well known, is a double helix, however this helix is coiled and coiled again, inside the cell.

The Phosphate Backbone

This is the main skeleton of the molecule, it is what keeps it all together.

The Deoxyribose Sugar

The Bases

Adenine

Tyrosine

Cytosine

Guanine

Replication

Protein Production