Information About "DNA"

Definition of DNA:

  Abb. deoxyribonucleic acid. The molecules inside cells that carry genetic information and pass it from one generation to the next. See mitosis, chromosomes.

 

DNA Stand For?

DNA, the acronym for Deoxyribonucleic Acid, stands for the key foundation on which the structure of life is built. It is the set of instructions contained within the DNA and the difference in these instructions from one DNA to the other that results in one human being different from the other. The difference that we are talking about here is not only in terms of different hair color and facial features but that these human beings even differ in the way they react to the same situation and same environment.

It is very interesting to note that although each cell of human body holds the same DNA, the structures of different parts of body even though based on this same DNA are very different. Modern biology has found out that this is due to the fact that different areas of DNA are active in different parts of the body. That’s why DNA in blood cells produces what is required for the blood and DNA in muscle cells build proteins that are needed by muscles.
DNA stands for the progression and advancement in modern day biotechnology. Nowadays biotechnology industry has become a lucrative business. There are many firms studying and synthesizing DNA all around the world from Washington D.C. to Tehran and Hong Kong for example.
Developments in biology and especially genetic studies have pretty much answered the question of “What does DNA stand for?”. Thanks to James Watson and Francis Crick, it’s already more than 50 years that the structure of DNA was explained in precise detail.
However, not all that DNA stands for is good. DNA has changed the concept of security and defense for a country because of the dangers it faces from the development of biological weapons. These biological weapons, based on DNA technology, can be exploited to not only paralyze but also demoralize a nation by causing a devastating breakout of viral, infectious and untreatable diseases. Many germs of the known and curable diseases have been improvised to become more dangerous and incurable. Dirty bombs are easy to be manufactured with this knowledge, as they do not require high technology or heavy investment. If these bombs ever fall in the wrong hands they can cause a high security risk globally. So all is not fine about DNA’s discovery, we have to be very careful about the ill uses of this technology.

MORE about DNA
In order to truly answer the question of “What is DNA?” one has to go back to the elementary or high school biology classes. You’ll recall that there are elements called chromosomes in each cell of human body. To be more precise, each cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. You’ll be astonished to know that some 50 to 100 thousand genes are held within these chromosomes. Since each of these genes could actually take value from one of the two values of its parent cells, hence you can imagine the possible variability in this structure.

These genes are made up of what is called DNA that is Deoxyribose Nucleic Acids. Apart from these genes that carry very essential genetic information and only account for 2% of DNA’s structure, the rest of the 98% of DNA is still a mystery. Biologists actually call it junk DNA as there are no known proteins or traits that are coded or built by this part of DNA. This junk DNA as well as the genetic information carrying part only varies in structure owing to the presence of four nucleotide bases throughout the DNA in differing order and sequence.
Think of these four nucleotide bases in DNA as letters that form an alphabet. Just like the way the order of letters determines the meaning of the word that is formed, the sequence of these nucleotide bases concludes what information is available for the production of proteins that consequently take an active part in the formation and growth of body.

Most of the DNA is present within the nucleus of the cells. This is known as nuclear DNA. Mitochondria also hold modest quantity of DNA, which is termed as mitochondrial DNA. The latter is useful in tests related to someone’s distant maternal lineage. 

What is really great about DNA is that it has a very autonomous self-replication mechanism in action. The replication process makes use of the two strands of DNA. Each of these strands acts as template and after going through a series of steps is converted into dual stranded DNA once again. This replication is very important because when the cell divides, the newly formed cell requires the same set of instructions for it to function and grow and the replicated DNA serves this purpose.
Summing up the answer for what is DNA, it could easily be said that it’s a well designed program spanning thousands of lines of codes that has instructions for everything that the cell needs to perform


RANA

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