DNA
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English
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Initialism
DNA
- (biology{{#if:|, {{{2}}}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}){{#if:|[[Category: {{{2}}}]]}}{{#if:|[[Category: {{{3}}}]]}}{{#if:|[[Category: {{{4}}}]]}}{{#if:|[[Category: {{{5}}}]]}}{{#if:|[[Category: {{{6}}}]]}}{{#if:|[[Category: {{{7}}}]]}}{{#if:|[[Category: {{{8}}}]]}}{{#if:|[[Category: {{{9}}}]]}}, (genetics) an abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, the genetic material of nearly all forms of life. DNA is used to store the genetic information of nearly all living organisms, excepting some viruses that use RNA instead.
- (biochemistry{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}) a biopolymer of Deoxyribonucleic acids (a type of nucleic acid) that has four different chemical groups, called bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. These bases are abbreviated A, G, C, and T, respectively. Linear polymer chains of DNA encode sequences of bases, e.g., "ATGGGCGGGTTT..." These DNA sequences encode for genes. Genes in a DNA sequence encode for proteins and are the basis of heredity, or genetic inheritence. Inherited DNA resides in chromosomes within the nucleus of the cell. These inherited DNA are double-stranded, such that the second strand is a complement (or "mirror-image" copy) of the first strand. In this way, the bases pair uniquely and non-covalently with only one other partner to form base pairs: A's pair with Tâs and Gâs with Câs. Structural biology shows that double-stranded, base-paired DNA form a double-helix. In order for the DNA polymer to copy itself, or replicate, these strands are separated and each is copied by polymerase enzymes to create two identical copies of the original double-stranded DNA.
- The human genome contains 3.2 billion base pairs of DNA, which encode some 30,000 genes. If the strands of DNA found in each cell of the body were stretched out in a line, the 46 chromosomes in the human genome would extend more than six feet. The length of DNA in a typical human (including all of its cells) would stretch more than 100 billion miles or more than 1000 times the distance between the earth and sun!
- did not answer
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- Defense Nuclear Agency
- Douglas Noel Adams
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Translations
deoxyribonucleic acid
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Derived terms
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Related terms
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French
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Abbreviation
- Dernière Nouvelles d'Alsace ("Latest News from Alsace"), a French periodical.