DNA

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

initial proposal of DNA structure

genetically modified humans

How DNA influences inherited traits

polynucleotide chain of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Explore Paul Rothemund's DNA origami and its future application in medical diagnostics, drug delivery, tissue engineering, energy, and the environment

Finding prehistoric family ties with modern DNA

model of a DNA molecule

human genome; whole genome sequencing

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DNA helix in a futuristic concept of the evolution of science and medicine.

6 Questions About DNA Answered

DNA strands on blue background

What Is the Difference Between DNA and RNA?

Endoplasmic reticulum. cell biology

6 Cell Organelles

Discover

Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army

8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century

Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1855), founder of the house of Rothschild; lithograph by Friedrich Lieder, c. 1830.

Where Do Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories About the Rothschild Family Come From?

Diverse elementary school children wearing school uniforms running outside of school. Boys girls

Pro and Con: School Uniforms

New York NY/ USA- November 23, 2018 Hordes of shoppers throng the Macy's Herald Square flagship store in New York looking for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.

Why Is It Called Black Friday?

The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)

11 Banned Books Through Time

Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer

Was Santa Claus a Real Person?

A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

DNA: Media

chemical compound

Videos

genetically modified humans

genetically modified humans

CRISPR and genetically modified humans.

Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

How DNA influences inherited traits

How DNA influences inherited traits

This video introduces the basics of DNA, the chemical that underlies life on Earth.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Explore Paul Rothemund's DNA origami and its future application in medical diagnostics, drug delivery, tissue engineering, energy, and the environment

Explore Paul Rothemund's DNA origami and its future application in medical diagnostics, drug delivery, tissue engineering, energy, and the environment

DNA origami, developed by American computer scientist and bioengineer Paul Rothemund,...

Video: Science in Seconds (www.scienceinseconds.com) (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Finding prehistoric family ties with modern DNA

Finding prehistoric family ties with modern DNA

View researchers at the anthropological institute in Göttingen studying DNA taken...

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Vladislav Kochelaevskiy/Dreamstime.com; © Photoblueice/Dreamstime.com

Uncover the genome similarities and differencess between chimpanzees and human beings

Uncover the genome similarities and differencess between chimpanzees and human beings

Comparing the similarities and differences between the genomes of chimpanzees (Pan...

Video: © MinuteEarth (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Learn about CRISPR technology and how it can transform medicine and society

Learn about CRISPR technology and how it can transform medicine and society

What is CRISPR, and how does it stand to transform medicine and society?

Video: © World Science Festival (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Fascinating facts about crystals

Fascinating facts about crystals

Discover five facts about crystals.

Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Eukaryotic vs. prokaryotic cells: Key differences explained

Eukaryotic vs. prokaryotic cells: Key differences explained

Learn about the difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

How gene therapy can treat diseases

How gene therapy can treat diseases

Gene therapy seeks to repair genetic mutations through the introduction of healthy,...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

What are chromosomes?

What are chromosomes?

Each species has a unique set of chromosomes which are the carriers of genetic information.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Know about CRISPR Cas9 technology in gene editing and its application in human therapeutics to agriculture

Know about CRISPR Cas9 technology in gene editing and its application in human therapeutics to agriculture

Examining how scientists attach the molecular tool CRISPR-Cas9 to an RNA strand in...

Video: Displayed by permission of The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Learn how the DNA molecules divide during the process of cell division called mitosis

Learn how the DNA molecules divide during the process of cell division called mitosis

The cell cycle is an ordered sequence of events that prepares a cell for the process...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

How DNA's double helix structure was discovered

How DNA's double helix structure was discovered

The animated structure of a DNA molecule. Deoxyribose sugar molecules and phosphate...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Images

initial proposal of DNA structure

initial proposal of DNA structure

The initial proposal of the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick, which...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

DNA structure

DNA structure

DNA structure, showing the nucleotide bases cytosine (C), thymine (T), adenine (A),...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

DNA strands

DNA strands

Illustration of DNA strands

© Shutter2U/stock.adobe.com

polynucleotide chain of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

polynucleotide chain of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Portion of polynucleotide chain of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The inset shows the...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

model of a DNA molecule

model of a DNA molecule

Model of a DNA molecule.

© Photodisc/Getty Images

human genome; whole genome sequencing

human genome; whole genome sequencing

Bands of DNA representing a segment of the human genome.

Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine

DNA extraction; recombinant DNA

DNA extraction; recombinant DNA

The process of DNA extraction is necessary to isolate molecules of DNA from cells...

Dr. Dominik Refardt/University of Basel, Switzerland.

Meet the tulip tree: More than just beautiful blooms

Meet the tulip tree: More than just beautiful blooms

A nucleotide sequence determined using DNA sequencing technologies.

© Ryan McVay—Photodisc/Getty Images

DNA; human genome

DNA; human genome

The human genome is made up of approximately three billion base pairs of deoxyribonucleic...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

DNA

DNA

An illustration of strands of DNA.

© Benjaminet/stock.adobe.com

DNA wraps around proteins called histones to form units known as nucleosomes. These units condense into a chromatin fibre, which condenses further to form a chromosome. Epigenetics studies have revealed that chemical modifications to histones can be inherited and define how the information in genes is expressed and used by cells.

DNA wraps around proteins called histones to form units known as nucleosomes. These...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

DNA replication in higher organisms begins at multiple origins of replication and progresses in two directions.

DNA replication in higher organisms begins at multiple origins of replication and...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

histone; nucleosome

histone; nucleosome

DNA wrapped around clusters of histone proteins to form nucleosomes, which can coil...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

DNA and protein synthesis

DNA and protein synthesis

DNA in the cell nucleus carries a genetic code, which consists of sequences of adenine...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

semiconservative DNA replication

semiconservative DNA replication

In semiconservative DNA replication an existing DNA molecule is separated into two...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

gene; intron and exon

gene; intron and exon

Genes are made up of promoter regions and alternating regions of introns (noncoding...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Failure of DNA repair mechanismsDNA repair mechanisms maintain the integrity of DNA, which often acquires mutations during replication. If these mechanisms fail, or if the cell does not undergo apoptosis (a genetically encoded cell “suicide”), more mutations may occur, and the cells will proliferate. If the proliferation is slow and localized to the area in which it begins, the result is a benign tumour. With fast, uncontrolled growth and the invasion of other tissues, a malignant tumour arises.

Failure of DNA repair mechanismsDNA...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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