What is DNA?

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms.
DNA, short for
deoxyribonucleic acid,
is the molecule that
contains the genetic
code of organisms.
 What is a gene?
A gene is the basic physical
and functional unit of
heredity. Genes are made up
of DNA. Some genes act as 
instructions to make
molecules called proteins. 
Every person has two copies
of each gene, one inherited
from each parent. Most
genes are the same in all
people, but a small number
of genes (less than 1 percent
of the total) are slightly
different between people.
Alleles are forms of the same
gene with small differences in
their sequence of DNA bases.
These small differences
contribute to each person’s
unique physical features.
Where Is DNA Found in the
Human Body?
We have around 30 trillion 
cells in your body, and DNA
is found in most but not all
of them. For example,
mature red blood cells
don't have any DNA.
Also, some mature hair,
skin, and nail cells
don't have any DNA
either.
The DNA isn’t just floating
around in the cell. Most of it is
stored in a small compartment
in the cell called the nucleus. A
small bit of it can also be found
in another compartment called
the mitochondrion.
 
How Is DNA Stored
Inside Your Cells?
DNA is packed tightly in
the nucleus of your
cells as chromosomes.
A chromosome is a thread-
like structure that has DNA
coiled around proteins
called histones. Humans are
“diploid” organisms, which
means they have two
copies of each
chromosome—one from
mom and one from dad.
People typically have 23
pairs of chromosomes for
a total of 46.
If you were to unwind the
DNA in one cell, it would be
six feet long. Combining the
DNA from all your cells
would make a strand that's
34 billion miles long. For
comparison, at its farthest,
Pluto is only 4.67 billion
miles away from Earth.
In other words, the DNA
from just one human is so
long that it could reach to
Pluto and back more than
seven times. Now you can see
why it’s so important to pack
that DNA tightly into that
microscopic cell.
 
What is RNA?
RNA stands for
ribonucleic acid, which is
a long, single-stranded
chain of cells that
processes protein.
An example of RNA is a
chain of cells that
carries genetic
information of many
viruses from the cell to
the cytoplasm.
What is the main function
of RNA?
The main function of RNA
is to carry information of
amino acid sequence
from
the genes to where
proteins are assembled
on ribosomes in
the cytoplasm. This is
done by messenger
RNA
(mRNA). A single strand
of DNA is the blueprint
for the mRNA which is
transcribed from that
DNA strand.
 
 What is RNA made of?
A strand of RNA can be
thought of as a chain with a
nucleotide at each chain
link. Each nucleotide
 is made up of a base
(adenine, cytosine, guanine,
and uracil, typically
abbreviated as A, C, G and
U), a ribose sugar, and a
phosphate.
What are the3 functions
of RNA?
Three major types
of RNA are mRNA, or
messenger RNA, that
serve
 as temporary copies of
the information found in
DNA; rRNA, or
ribosomal RNA, that
serve as structural
components of protein-
making structures known
as ribosomes; and finally,
tRNA, or transfer RNA,
that ferry amino acids to
the ribosome to be
assembled .
How does RNA do work?
Messenger RNA (mRNA)
carries the genetic
information copied from
DNA in the form of a series
of three-base code “words,”
each of which specifies a
particular amino acid.
Transfer RNA (tRNA) is the
key to deciphering the code
words in mRNA. ...
Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
associates with a set of
proteins to form
ribosomes
What is DNA replication?
DNA replication is the
process of copying a
double-
stranded DNA molecule.
Both strands serve as
templates for the
reproduction of the opposite
strand. ... In a cell, DNA
replication begins specific
places in the genome, called
origins.
Stages of DNA replication
DNA replication can be
thought of in three
stages; Initiation,
Elongation, Termination
 1.Initiation
DNA synthesis is initiated at
particular points within the DNA
strand known as ‘origins’, which
are specific coding regions. These
origins are targeted by initiator
proteins, which go on to recruit
more proteins that help aid the
replication process, forming a
replication complex around
the DNA origin. There are multiple
origin sites, and when replication
of DNA begins, these sites are
referred to as Replication Forks.
Within the replication complex is
the enzyme DNA Helicase, which
unwinds the double helix and
exposes each of the two strands,
so that
they can be used as a template for
replication. It does this by
hydrolysing the ATP used to form
the bonds between the
nucleobases,
 therefore breaking the bond
between the two strands.
DNA can only be extended via the
addition of a free nucleotide
triphosphate to the 3’- end of a
chain. As
 the double helix
runs antiparallel, but DNA
replication only occurs in one
direction, it means growth of the
two new strands is very different
(and will be covered in Elongation).
DNA Primase is another enzyme
that is important in DNA
replication. It synthesises a
small RNA
 primer, which acts as a ‘kick-
starter’ for DNA Polymerase. DNA
Polymerase is the enzyme that is
ultimately responsible for the
creation and expansion of the new
strands of DNA.
 2.Elongation
Once the DNA Polymerase has
attached to the original, unzipped
two strands of DNA (i.e.
the template strands), it is
able to start synthesising the new
DNA to match the templates. This
enzyme is only able to extend the
primer by adding free nucleotides
to the 3’-end of
the strand, causing difficulty as one
of the template strands has a 5’-
end from which it needs to extend
from.
One of the templates is read in a 3’
to 5’ direction, which means that
the new strand will be formed in a
5’ to 3’ direction (as the two
strands are antiparallel to
 each other). This newly formed
strand is referred to as the Leading
Strand. Along this strand, DNA
Primase only needs to synthesise
an RNA
primer once, at the beginning, to
help initiate DNA Polymerase to
continue extending the new DNA
strand. This is because DNA
Polymerase
 is able to extend the new DNA
strand normally, by adding new
nucleotides to the 3’ end of the
new strand (how DNA Polymerase
usually works).
 However, the other template
strand is antiparallel, and is
therefore read in a 5’ to
3’ direction, meaning the new DNA
strand being formed will run
 in a 3’ to 5’ direction. This is an
issue as DNA Polymerase doesn’t
extend in this direction. To
counteract this, DNA Primase
synthesises a new
 RNA primer approximately every
200 nucleotides, to prime DNA
synthesis to continue extending
from the 5’ end of the new strand.
To allow for the continued
 creation of RNA primers, the new
synthesis is delayed and is such
called the Lagging Strand.
The leading strand is one complete
strand, while the
 lagging strand is not. It is instead
made out of multiple ‘mini-
strands’, known of Okazaki
fragments. These fragments occur
due to the
fact that new primers are having to
be synthesised, therefore causing
multiple strands to be created, as
opposed to the one initial primer
that is used with the leading
strand.
 3.Termination
The process of expanding the new
DNA strands continues until there
is either no more DNA template
left to replicate (i.e. at the end of
the chromosome), or two
replication forks meet and
 subsequently terminate. The
meeting of two replication forks is
not regulated and happens
randomly along the course of the
chromosome.
Once DNA synthesis has finished, it
is important that the newly
synthesised strands are bound and
stabilized.  With regards to the
lagging strand, two
 enzymes are needed to achieve
this; RNAase H removes the RNA
primer that is at the beginning of
each Okazaki fragment, and DNA
Ligase joins two
 fragments together creating one
complete strand.
Now with two new strands being
finally finished, the DNA has been
successfully replicated, and will
just
need other intrinsic cell systems to
‘proof-read’ the new DNA to check
for any errors in replication, and
for the new single strands to be
stabilized.
 Enzymes that participate in the
eukaryotic DNA replication process
include:
DNA helicase - unwinds and
separates double stranded DNA as
it moves
along the DNA. It forms the
replication fork by breaking 
hydrogen bonds between
nucleotide pairs in DNA.
 DNA primase - a type of RNA
polymerase that generates RNA
primers. Primers are short RNA
molecules that act as templates for
the starting point of DNA
replication.
DNA polymerases - synthesize new
DNA molecules by adding 
nucleotides to leading and lagging
DNA strands.
 Topoisomerase or DNA Gyrase -
unwinds and rewinds DNA strands
to prevent the DNA from becoming
tangled or supercoiled.
 Exonucleases - group of enzymes
that remove nucleotide bases from
the end of a DNA chain.
DNA ligase - joins DNA fragments
together by forming
phosphodiester bonds between
nucleotides.