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An example of a variation map is the HapMap being developed by the International HapMap Project. The HapMap is a haplotype map of the human genome, "which will describe the common patterns of human DNA sequence variation." [79] It catalogs the patterns of small-scale variations in the genome that involve single DNA letters, or bases.
For example, only about 1.5% of the human genome consists of protein-coding exons, with over 50% of human DNA consisting of non-coding repetitive sequences. [98] The reasons for the presence of so much noncoding DNA in eukaryotic genomes and the extraordinary differences in genome size , or C-value , among species, represent a long-standing ...
For example, fruit flies share 61 percent of disease-causing genes with humans, which was important when NASA studied the bugs to learn more about what space travel might do to your genes.
All living cells contain both DNA and RNA (except some cells such as mature red blood cells), while viruses contain either DNA or RNA, but usually not both. [15] The basic component of biological nucleic acids is the nucleotide, each of which contains a pentose sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), a phosphate group, and a nucleobase. [16]
Selected portions of the DNA nucleotide sequence are copied into a corresponding RNA nucleotide sequence, which either encodes a protein (if it is an mRNA) or forms a 'structural' RNA, such as a transfer RNA (tRNA) or ribosomal RNA (rRNA) molecule. Each region of the DNA helix that produces a functional RNA molecule constitutes a gene. [15]
Human DNA recovered from remains found in Europe is revealing our species’ shared history with Neanderthals. The trove is the oldest Homo sapiens DNA ever documented, scientists say.
While the sugar-phosphate "backbone" of DNA contains deoxyribose, RNA contains ribose instead. [6] Ribose has a hydroxyl group attached to the pentose ring in the 2' position, whereas deoxyribose does not. The hydroxyl groups in the ribose backbone make RNA more chemically labile than DNA by lowering the activation energy of hydrolysis.
DNA can be copied very easily and accurately because each piece of DNA can direct the assembly of a new copy of its information. This is because DNA is made of two strands that pair together like the two sides of a zipper. The nucleotides are in the center, like the teeth in the zipper, and pair up to hold the two strands together.