![]() ![]() Picture a ladder that twists like a corkscrew, with the sugar and phosphate acting as the side rails and the base pairs acting as the rungs. In 1953, scientists proposed that DNA is structured as a double helix, with the chemical bases-adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T)-stacked up in pairs between two intertwining lengths of sugar and phosphate. ![]() Thousands of times thinner than one of the hairs on your head, a strand of DNA consists of three chemical building blocks: a sugar group, a phosphate group, and one of four nitrogen-containing bases. It helps cells make proteins, which they need to survive, and it facilitates reproduction. Chemistry with a twistĭNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule found inside every cell in almost every living thing. Without setting foot in a fancy science lab, this is how you can see the intricacies of a person’s DNA. ![]() Next time you’re holding hands, pay attention to the shape of her fingers. Notice the curve of her smile and the special way her forehead creases when she laughs. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |