Dna In Biology

DNA is a macromolecule that is used for instructions when creating proteins and other activities. It is because of this that DNA (and other nucleic acids) are essential for life to exist. DNA contains genetic code that primarily directs organelles in a cell to operate in a certain way. DNA also carries information regarding the traits of an organism. These traits are often passed from a parent cell to its offspring. This branch of biology is know as genetics. DNA also possesses a unique structure that allows it to perform all these actions. DNA is composed of hydrogen ,carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus. The monomers that make up nucleic acids are called nucleotides. Nucleotides consists of "a five carbon sugar molecule bonded to a nitrogenous base and a …show more content…
Eukaryotes (which contain a nucleus) have their genetic information stored in the nucleus in the form of chromosomes; while prokaryotes, (which do not contain a nucleus) have DNA floating in the cytoplasm in the form of plasmid. Nucleotides that make up DNA are very similar except for the difference in nitrogenous base that each one contains. These bases include adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine. When nucleotides join together they form a shape that looks like a twisted ladder (also know as a double helix). The bases of a nucleotide also determines what other bases it is paired with on the double helix. Adenine and thymine usually bond and cytosine and guanine are usually bonded together. The nucleotides that make up these pairs are called complementary bases. "The sequence of bases for rung to rung along the ladder stores the genetic information contained in the DNA molecule." Proteins determine largely the nature of the traits that are present in an organism. When DNA tries to create these and other kinds of proteins it is transferred into RNA and then carried to the ribosomes of a