Understanding DNA: The Blueprint of Life
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Explore the structure and composition of DNA, the blueprint of life, composed of nucleotides and paired bases forming a double-stranded helix. Learn the Base Pair Rule and differences between DNA and RNA.
Understanding DNA: The Blueprint of Life
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Presentation Transcript
Structure and Composition DNA is sometimes called "the blueprint of life" because it contains the code, or instructions for building and organizing and ensuring that organism functions correctly.
DeoxyriboNucleic Acid • DNA is composed of subunits called nucleotides, strung together in a long chain • Each nucleotide consists of: a phosphate, a sugar (deoxyribose), and a base
Bases • Bases come in two types: pyrimidines (cytosine and thymine) • and purines • (guanine and adenine)
The sugar and phosphates make up the "backbone" of the DNA molecule.
The shape of the DNA molecule is a double-stranded helix (like a twisted ladder). • The sides of the ladder are composed of alternating sugars (deoxyribose) and phosphates. • The rungs of the ladder are composed of nucleotides. James Watson & Francis Crick
Base Pair Rule • Nucleotides pair in a specific way - called the Base-Pair Rule • Adenine always pairs • with Thymine (A-T) • Guanine always pairs • with Cytosine (C-G)
Here are some bases of DNA: • A -A-T-G-T-A-T-A-C-A-A-G-G-C-A-T • Now match them with their complementary bases.
RNA • RNA is like DNA • It stands for Ribonucleic Acid • It’s used to make proteins, whereas DNA contains the information of life
