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Deoxyribonucleic acid (/ d iː ˈ ɒ k s ɪ ˌ r aɪ b oʊ nj uː ˌ k l iː ɪ k,-ˌ k l eɪ-/ ⓘ; [1] DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many ...
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid containing the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. The chemical DNA was discovered in 1869, but its role in genetic inheritance was not demonstrated until 1943. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes.
The nucleobases are important in base pairing of strands to form higher-level secondary and tertiary structures such as the famed double helix. The possible letters are A , C , G , and T , representing the four nucleotide bases of a DNA strand – adenine , cytosine , guanine , thymine – covalently linked to a phosphodiester backbone.
A major step toward that goal was the completion in 2007 of the full genome of James D. Watson, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA. [ 21 ] Whereas a genome sequence lists the order of every DNA base in a genome, a genome map identifies the landmarks.
Nuclear DNA is a nucleic acid, a polymeric biomolecule or biopolymer, found in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells.Its structure is a double helix, with two strands wound around each other, a structure first described by Francis Crick and James D. Watson (1953) using data collected by Rosalind Franklin.
DNA sequencing may be used to determine the sequence of individual genes, larger genetic regions (i.e. clusters of genes or operons), full chromosomes, or entire genomes of any organism. DNA sequencing is also the most efficient way to indirectly sequence RNA or proteins (via their open reading frames).
The complementary base to adenine in DNA is thymine, whereas in RNA, it is uracil, which is an unmethylated form of thymine. [ 7 ] Like DNA, most biologically active RNAs, including mRNA , tRNA , rRNA , snRNAs , and other non-coding RNAs , contain self-complementary sequences that allow parts of the RNA to fold [ 8 ] and pair with itself to ...
A-DNA, is a form of the DNA duplex observed under dehydrating conditions. It is shorter and wider than B-DNA. RNA adopts this double helical form, and RNA-DNA duplexes are mostly A-form, but B-form RNA-DNA duplexes have been observed. [14] In localized single strand dinucleotide contexts, RNA can also adopt the B-form without pairing to DNA. [15]