What is DNA?
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the hereditary material in the nucleus of all cells in the body. While almost all DNA is located in the cell nucleus, a small amount of DNA is found in the mitochondria. Nearly every single cell in the body has the same DNA.
DNA contains information which is used in everyday metabolism inside the body, as well as for cell growth and division, and it influences most of your particular characteristics.
Important DNA facts
- There are 23 pairs of genes in the DNA (46 in total), half of which come from your father and the other half from your mother
- The DNA is called a “double helix”, which is the two strands of 23 chromosomes wrapped around each other
- DNA is so tightly coiled that amazingly, about 1.8 metres of it is able to fit into the nucleus of a human cell
Why DNA is important
DNA is divided into 23 pairs of functional units of genes which carry the instructions for every part of the body. There is a gene that tells the body what colour the eyes should be, another for hair colour and so on. Each gene is a code for a particular protein, which make up the body. The genes in DNA dictate how you are created and what your body will look like.
The information contained within DNA is passed from one generation to the next – that is why some illness are deemed to be “hereditary”. Even still, there is debate about how much a person’s gentic makeup is due to inheritance and defined by DNA (nature) and how much of an influence the environment (nurture) is.
