Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is a molecule that contains the instructions an organism needs to develop, live and reproduce. These instructions are found inside every cell, and are passed down from parents to their children. DNA structure. DNA is made up of molecules called nucleotides. read more
DNA is a double helix which looks like a twisted ladder. The 2 strands are connected by hydrogen bonding between the complementary nucleotides. read more
Credit: Genetic Science Learning Center Similar to the way the order of letters in the alphabet can be used to form a word, the order of nitrogen bases in a DNA sequence forms genes, which in the language of the cell, tells cells how to make proteins. read more
Understanding DNA structure and function Earlier, we compared a DNA polymer to a sentence, and the nucleotide monomers that make up a polymer to the letters of the alphabet that are used to write sentences down. read more