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Article: Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
- Article from:
- Chemistry: Foundations and Applications
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the genetic material of most living organisms. One of its main functions is to produce ribonucleic acid (RNA), which then makes proteins. Thus, information within DNA allows a cell to make most of the molecules it needs to function.
DNA and RNA are nucleic acids that are composed of sugars, phosphates, and nitrogenous bases (or a base). The four bases found in DNA are
guanine
(G),
cytosine
(C), thymidine (T), and
adenine
(A). Each sugar attached to a base and phosphate is called a nucleotide. Hence, DNA is a collection of nucleotides.
Bases from two different strands interact to form a double-helical structure. Guanine ...