2. WHAT IS DNA ?
deoxyribonucleic acid, a self-
replicating material which is
present in nearly all living
organisms as the main
constituent of chromosomes.
3. DNA IS MADE UP OF NUCLEOTIDES
DNA is an abbreviation for
deoxyribonucleic acid. It is
made up of monomers called
nucleotides. There are
thousands of nucleotides in
DNA. They can be termed as
hereditary molecules as they
carry unique codes of
information which reveals your
biological background. By just
examining the sequence of the
nucleotides, you can find out the
ancestral information of a
person.
4. MUTATION
Mutations in the DNA can change the
protein it codes for, or they might have
no effect. To understand this, we need
to review the genetic code.
The genetic code informs the cell
what sequence of nucleotides code for
which amino acid, the building blocks
of protein. When protein is being
made, the cell reads nucleotides in
groups of three, called a codon. More
than one codon can code for the same
amino acid. The amino acids are then
assembled into a protein.
5. RNA
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) RNA
and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along
with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates,
constitute the four
major macromolecules essential for all
known forms of life. Like DNA, RNA is
assembled as a chain of nucleotides, but
unlike DNA it is more often found in
nature as a single-strand folded onto itself,
rather than a paired double-strand.
Cellular organisms use messenger
RNA (mRNA) to convey genetic
information (using the nitrogenous
bases of guanine, uracil, adenine,
and cytosine, denoted by the letters G, U,
A, and C) that directs synthesis of specific
proteins.
