What does DNA mean to humanity? How would humanity be different without DNA

By Akiala I

What is DNA? DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the inherited matter in humans and almost all other

organisms.

Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA.

Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA)

An important property of DNA is that it can make copies of itself.

Each strand of DNA in the double helix (coil, spring) can serve as a pattern for

duplicating the sequence of bases. T

his is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of

the DNA present in the old cell.

What is DNA? The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical

bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T).

Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99

percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order of these

bases determines the information available for building and

maintaining an organism.

DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form

base pairs.

More about Base pairs Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate

molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a

nucleotide.

Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral

called a double helix.

The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the

base pairs forming the ladder’s rungs and the sugar and phosphate

molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.

DNA structure

This is a model of a DNA strand and a double helix including an example of base pairs and sugar molecules.

DNA StructureThis is a model of a DNA strand and a double helix including an example of base pairs and sugar molecules.

Adenine is one of the most important organic molecules for life as we know it today. is an essential part of DNA, RNA, and ATP. DNA, as you might know, is the genetic code used for cellular life on earth. It is through the precise inheritance of on organism's DNA from its parent that the traits of an organism are passed on. Here is the partial structure of DNA with an Adenine group attached.

Adenine is a purine. Purines are six-membered rings attached to five membered rings. When Adenine is attached to DNA, it forms a bond with another molecule called Thymine, a pyrimidine, on the other side of the DNA strand. It is these bonds which give DNA its double-helix structure. The sequence of DNA, or the order in which nucleotides are placed, allows for the diversity among all living organisms. The importance of Adenine to RNA is similar to that of DNA.

Besides DNA and RNA, Adenine is also an important part of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. Adenosine triphosphate is the nitrogenous base adenine bonded to a five carbon sugar. This molecule is important because it has the ability to phosphorylize, or add a phosphate group to, other molecules. This transfer of a phosphate group allows energy to be released. It is this energy which is used by cells in living organisms. This is why the molecules ATP, and its nitrogenous base Adenine, are so important.

Adenine

This is the chemical structure of Adenine.

thymine , organic base of the pyrmadine family. Thymine was the first

pyrimidine to be purified from a natural source, having been isolated

from calf thymus and beef spleen in 1893-4. Combined with the sugar

deoxyribose in a glycosidic linkage, thymine forms a derivative called

thymidine (a nucleoside), which in turn can be phosphorylated with

from one to three phosphoric acid groups, yielding respectively the

three nucleotides TMP (thymidine monophosphate), TDP (thymidine

diphosphate), and TTP (thymidine triphosphate).

A pyrimidine that is one of the five organic bases found in the nucleic acids of cells. In DNA it pairs with adenine. Uracil replaces thymine in RNA.

Thymine is part of thymidine, a corresponding nucleoside, in which it is chemically linked with the sugar deoxiribose. It is also part of thymidylic acid, a nucleotide, which is a phosphate ester of thymidine. Melting point 321°–325°C

Thymine is one of the five nitrogenous bases (cytosine, guanine, adenine, thymine and uracil) that helps make up the code in DNA and RNA. These nitrogenous bases pair with one another to make the "step" of the DNA double-helix molecule.

Uracil,  a colorless, crystalline organic compound of the pyrimidine family that occurs as a component of ribonucleic acid (RNA), a molecule involved in the transmission of hereditary characteristics.

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Thymine

Uracil & Thymine

With the formula C5H5N5O, guanine is a derivative of purine, consisting of a fused pyrimidine-imidazole ring system with conjugated double bonds. Being unsaturated, the bicyclic molecule is planar. The guanine nucleoside is called guanosine.

                                     

Guanine, along with adenine and cytosine, is present in both DNA and RNA, whereas thymine is usually seen only in DNA, and uracil only in RNA. Guanine has two tautomeric forms, the keto form and enol form. It binds to cytosine through three hydrogen bonds.

In cytosine, the amino group acts as the hydrogen donor and the C-2 carbonyl and the N-3 amine as the hydrogen-bond acceptors. Guanine has a group at C-6 that acts as the hydrogen acceptor, while the group at N-1 and the amino group at C-2 acts as the hydrogen donors.

In cosmetic industry, crystalline guanine is used as an additive to various products (e.g., shampoos), where it provides the pearly iridescent effect. It is also used in metallic paints and simulated pearls and plastics. It provides shimmering luster to eye shadow and nail polish. Guanine crystals are rhombic platelets composed of multiple, transparent layers, but they have a high index of refraction that partially reflects and transmits light from layer to layer, thus producing a pearly luster. It can be applied by spray, painting, or dipping. It may irritate eyes. Its alternatives are mica, synthetic pearl, and aluminium and bronze particles.

Guanine

This is the compound structure of Guanine

is one of the 5 main nitrogenous bases used in storing and transporting genetic information within a cell. It is a pyrimidine derivative. The nucleoside of cytosine is cytidine.The other names for cytosine are 2-oxy-4-aminopyrimidine and 4-amino-2(1H)-pyrimidinone. It has a chemical formula of C4H5N3O and a molecular weight of 111.10 atomic mass units.

contained in the nucleic acids of all tissue: it links with guanine in the DNA structure

Cytosine

This is the compound structure of cytosine

Humanity wouldn’t evolve because nothing would be different everyone would be clones and just be like a broken record repeating for centuries also reproduction wouldn’t happen.