The full form of DNA also known as deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms.
Nearly every cell in a person's body has the same DNA.
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses.
DNA and ribonucleic acid are nucleic acids.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are perhaps the most important molecules in cell biology, responsible for the storage and reading of genetic information that underpins all life.
Three major forms of DNA are double stranded and connected by interactions between complementary base pairs.
These are terms A-form, B-form,and Z-form DNA.
The Swiss biologist Johannes Friedrich Miescher first recognized and named DNA in 1869, during his work on white blood cells.
The double helix structure of a molecule of DNA was later discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick using experimental evidence.
Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).
Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use.
B-DNA is found in humans. It is a right-handed double-helical structure.
Blood is an excellent source of human DNA. DNA is present in white blood cells of humans, but not red blood cells which lack nuclei.
A dime-sized spot of blood, approximately 50 µl in volume, is enough DNA for a typical VNTR analysis.
The diploid human genome is thus composed of 46 DNA molecules of 24 distinct types.
DNA is made of chemical building blocks called nucleotides. These building blocks are made of three parts: a phosphate group, a sugar group and one of four types of nitrogen bases.
To form a strand of DNA, nucleotides are linked into chains, with the phosphate and sugar groups alternating.