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Article: DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)
- Article from:
- World of Microbiology and Immunology
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DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the genetic material that codes for the components that make life possible. Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms contain DNA. An exception is a few
viruses
that contain
ribonucleic acid
, although even these viruses have the means for producing DNA.
The DNA of
bacteria
is much different from the DNA of eukaryotic cells such as human cells. Bacterial DNA is dispersed throughout the cell, while in eukaryotic cells the DNA is segregated in the
nucleus
, a membrane-bound region. In eukaryotics, structures called mitochondria also contain DNA. The dispersed bacterial DNA is much shorter than eukaryotic DNA. Hence the ...