how DNA passes on genetic information?
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Each of your cells has a long long strand of DNA in it, which stretched out is about 6 feet long (seriously).
That DNA is made up of a long chain of 4 different molecules, which get abbreviated with the letters A,G,C, and T. The order that these molecules are in on the chain stores information on how to make different proteins, which are the molecules your body uses to pretty much “do” everything cells need to do (like moving, burning sugar for energy, making hormones, digesting food, etc). I don’t think it’s useful to get into the specifics of how it stores this information, but I’ll say that proteins themselves are made of long chains of smaller molecules, and that every group of three “letters” stands for a different one of these smaller molecules.
DNA has one other amazing ability–it can replicate itself. When cells divide, it copies itself and you end up with two copies of the same strand of DNA in the two new cells. When our bodies are making sperm or eggs, they are formed in a special way where a randomly selected half of the DNA chain is put in them, which combines with the randomly selected half in the other one when a baby is conceived. This means that babies have 50/50 of their DNA from their mom and dad, but exactly which parts of it come from which parent is random.
DNA is an information medium. You might know that the DNA molecule is shaped like a twisted ladder. The rungs of that ladder are can be made of any of four different chemicals. Those chemicals and more importantly the order they appear in is your genetic code. It’s like letters in a book. Now the DNA molecule is also something like a zipper. The two sides can be unzipped from one another and each is used as a template to build a new strand of DNA. In that way, DNA can be copied to form new cells for growth and reproduction. The next question you might ask is how is that genetic code read to express traits. Your cells contain structures called ribosome that can read RNA ( a molecule like one side of the DNA ladder) and create proteins based on the information they find. Proteins are built like Lego blocks; they can be formed piece by piece by sticking smaller molecules called amino acids together. Each set of three rungs of DNA mean a different amino acid or a special instruction like start building or stop building. So DNA holds information that ribosomes can use to build proteins. How does that determine genetic traits like hair or eye color? The pigments in your hair, eyes, and skin are all proteins. The most common pigment is a brown protein called melanin. Some people have more genes that code for melanin than others and so some people are more darkly colored. Some people have genes that changed or mutated in one of their ancestors and some of their genes no longer code for melanin. They might produce very little pigment and be blond or produce a different pigment like pheomelanine and be red-headed. Now on to the heart of the question. How do parents pass genes to their children, or why do children resemble their parents? Every one of your cells has a full set of DNA organized into structures called chromosomes. Humans have 45 chromosomes in 23 pairs. Why in pairs? Because you get one set from your mother and the other from your father. Usually when your body makes new cells, the entire set of 46 gets copied. However, if your body is making gamete cells, sperm or eggs, those cells only get one half of each pair at random. The two members of each pair can even trade parts so each resulting gamete is highly randomized and completely unique. When an egg cell is fertilized by a sperm cell all the pairs of chromosomes match up and the whole process starts over again
Each of your cells has a long long strand of DNA in it, which stretched out is about 6 feet long (seriously).
That DNA is made up of a long chain of 4 different molecules, which get abbreviated with the letters A,G,C, and T. The order that these molecules are in on the chain stores information on how to make different proteins, which are the molecules your body uses to pretty much “do” everything cells need to do (like moving, burning sugar for energy, making hormones, digesting food, etc). I don’t think it’s useful to get into the specifics of how it stores this information, but I’ll say that proteins themselves are made of long chains of smaller molecules, and that every group of three “letters” stands for a different one of these smaller molecules.
DNA has one other amazing ability–it can replicate itself. When cells divide, it copies itself and you end up with two copies of the same strand of DNA in the two new cells. When our bodies are making sperm or eggs, they are formed in a special way where a randomly selected half of the DNA chain is put in them, which combines with the randomly selected half in the other one when a baby is conceived. This means that babies have 50/50 of their DNA from their mom and dad, but exactly which parts of it come from which parent is random.
DNA is an information medium. You might know that the DNA molecule is shaped like a twisted ladder. The rungs of that ladder are can be made of any of four different chemicals. Those chemicals and more importantly the order they appear in is your genetic code. It’s like letters in a book. Now the DNA molecule is also something like a zipper. The two sides can be unzipped from one another and each is used as a template to build a new strand of DNA. In that way, DNA can be copied to form new cells for growth and reproduction. The next question you might ask is how is that genetic code read to express traits. Your cells contain structures called ribosome that can read RNA ( a molecule like one side of the DNA ladder) and create proteins based on the information they find. Proteins are built like Lego blocks; they can be formed piece by piece by sticking smaller molecules called amino acids together. Each set of three rungs of DNA mean a different amino acid or a special instruction like start building or stop building. So DNA holds information that ribosomes can use to build proteins. How does that determine genetic traits like hair or eye color? The pigments in your hair, eyes, and skin are all proteins. The most common pigment is a brown protein called melanin. Some people have more genes that code for melanin than others and so some people are more darkly colored. Some people have genes that changed or mutated in one of their ancestors and some of their genes no longer code for melanin. They might produce very little pigment and be blond or produce a different pigment like pheomelanine and be red-headed. Now on to the heart of the question. How do parents pass genes to their children, or why do children resemble their parents? Every one of your cells has a full set of DNA organized into structures called chromosomes. Humans have 45 chromosomes in 23 pairs. Why in pairs? Because you get one set from your mother and the other from your father. Usually when your body makes new cells, the entire set of 46 gets copied. However, if your body is making gamete cells, sperm or eggs, those cells only get one half of each pair at random. The two members of each pair can even trade parts so each resulting gamete is highly randomized and completely unique. When an egg cell is fertilized by a sperm cell all the pairs of chromosomes match up and the whole process starts over again
DNA is an information medium. You might know that the DNA molecule is shaped like a twisted ladder. The rungs of that ladder are can be made of any of four different chemicals. Those chemicals and more importantly the order they appear in is your genetic code. It’s like letters in a book. Now the DNA molecule is also something like a zipper. The two sides can be unzipped from one another and each is used as a template to build a new strand of DNA. In that way, DNA can be copied to form new cells for growth and reproduction. The next question you might ask is how is that genetic code read to express traits. Your cells contain structures called ribosome that can read RNA ( a molecule like one side of the DNA ladder) and create proteins based on the information they find. Proteins are built like Lego blocks; they can be formed piece by piece by sticking smaller molecules called amino acids together. Each set of three rungs of DNA mean a different amino acid or a special instruction like start building or stop building. So DNA holds information that ribosomes can use to build proteins. How does that determine genetic traits like hair or eye color? The pigments in your hair, eyes, and skin are all proteins. The most common pigment is a brown protein called melanin. Some people have more genes that code for melanin than others and so some people are more darkly colored. Some people have genes that changed or mutated in one of their ancestors and some of their genes no longer code for melanin. They might produce very little pigment and be blond or produce a different pigment like pheomelanine and be red-headed. Now on to the heart of the question. How do parents pass genes to their children, or why do children resemble their parents? Every one of your cells has a full set of DNA organized into structures called chromosomes. Humans have 45 chromosomes in 23 pairs. Why in pairs? Because you get one set from your mother and the other from your father. Usually when your body makes new cells, the entire set of 46 gets copied. However, if your body is making gamete cells, sperm or eggs, those cells only get one half of each pair at random. The two members of each pair can even trade parts so each resulting gamete is highly randomized and completely unique. When an egg cell is fertilized by a sperm cell all the pairs of chromosomes match up and the whole process starts over again
DNA is the genetic information. Cells pass on genetic information through DNA when the cells divide.
DNA is found in cells. Each DNA molecule is a chain made of smaller parts, related chemicals that we call nucleotides, and they come in 4 flavors: A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine) and T (thymine). A cell has proteins called enzymes that will make a second chain to pair with the first, and when they do that, they make a sure an A is always opposite a T, and a C opposite a G. We call the two chains “strands” and we say they are “complementary” because each strand mirrors the other.
DNA interacts with other molecules in the cell that use it as a template for genes that produce proteins that do all the chemical stuff in a cell. The DNA sequence determines how cells develop, interact, and function. It’s what decides if a cell will be a bacterium, or develop into a person – whether it will be a skin cell or brain cell – whether it functions normally, or not and causes a disease.
When cells divide, the DNA strands separate and enzymes use the strands as templates to recreate their complement, so each cell ends up with the same DNA.
In some organisms, each cell actually has two copies of every DNA strand. They can differ slightly, so the genes might differ slightly in each copy. Organisms that have two copies of each piece of DNA often reproduce by making special cells (sex cells) that have one copy of DNA instead of two; that one copy is often made by swapping chunks of two copies of the DNA piece making it so each cell gets 1 copy of the DNA that’s pretty much half of each of the two parent pieces. The single-copy cells, one from the mother and one from the father, merge to make a new cell with two copies of every bit of DNA, one from mother and one form father.
This means that each child is composed of ½ their mother’s DNA and ½ their father’s DNA. Since this is true of their parents before them, that means that they received 1/4th their DNA from each of their grandparents, or 1/16th from each of their great grandparents, and so on…
DNA is the genetic information. Cells pass on genetic information through DNA when the cells divide.
DNA is found in cells. Each DNA molecule is a chain made of smaller parts, related chemicals that we call nucleotides, and they come in 4 flavors: A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine) and T (thymine). A cell has proteins called enzymes that will make a second chain to pair with the first, and when they do that, they make a sure an A is always opposite a T, and a C opposite a G. We call the two chains “strands” and we say they are “complementary” because each strand mirrors the other.
DNA interacts with other molecules in the cell that use it as a template for genes that produce proteins that do all the chemical stuff in a cell. The DNA sequence determines how cells develop, interact, and function. It’s what decides if a cell will be a bacterium, or develop into a person – whether it will be a skin cell or brain cell – whether it functions normally, or not and causes a disease.
When cells divide, the DNA strands separate and enzymes use the strands as templates to recreate their complement, so each cell ends up with the same DNA.
In some organisms, each cell actually has two copies of every DNA strand. They can differ slightly, so the genes might differ slightly in each copy. Organisms that have two copies of each piece of DNA often reproduce by making special cells (sex cells) that have one copy of DNA instead of two; that one copy is often made by swapping chunks of two copies of the DNA piece making it so each cell gets 1 copy of the DNA that’s pretty much half of each of the two parent pieces. The single-copy cells, one from the mother and one from the father, merge to make a new cell with two copies of every bit of DNA, one from mother and one form father.
This means that each child is composed of ½ their mother’s DNA and ½ their father’s DNA. Since this is true of their parents before them, that means that they received 1/4th their DNA from each of their grandparents, or 1/16th from each of their great grandparents, and so on…
DNA is the genetic information. Cells pass on genetic information through DNA when the cells divide.
DNA is found in cells. Each DNA molecule is a chain made of smaller parts, related chemicals that we call nucleotides, and they come in 4 flavors: A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine) and T (thymine). A cell has proteins called enzymes that will make a second chain to pair with the first, and when they do that, they make a sure an A is always opposite a T, and a C opposite a G. We call the two chains “strands” and we say they are “complementary” because each strand mirrors the other.
DNA interacts with other molecules in the cell that use it as a template for genes that produce proteins that do all the chemical stuff in a cell. The DNA sequence determines how cells develop, interact, and function. It’s what decides if a cell will be a bacterium, or develop into a person – whether it will be a skin cell or brain cell – whether it functions normally, or not and causes a disease.
When cells divide, the DNA strands separate and enzymes use the strands as templates to recreate their complement, so each cell ends up with the same DNA.
In some organisms, each cell actually has two copies of every DNA strand. They can differ slightly, so the genes might differ slightly in each copy. Organisms that have two copies of each piece of DNA often reproduce by making special cells (sex cells) that have one copy of DNA instead of two; that one copy is often made by swapping chunks of two copies of the DNA piece making it so each cell gets 1 copy of the DNA that’s pretty much half of each of the two parent pieces. The single-copy cells, one from the mother and one from the father, merge to make a new cell with two copies of every bit of DNA, one from mother and one form father.
This means that each child is composed of ½ their mother’s DNA and ½ their father’s DNA. Since this is true of their parents before them, that means that they received 1/4th their DNA from each of their grandparents, or 1/16th from each of their great grandparents, and so on…
As a thought experiment, imagine that instead of how DNA actuslly works, you’re passing on a gene for making soup.
Your DNA might be something like :
Knife
Cut vegetables into small chunks
Put vegetables in pot
Add water
Add meat
Cook
Done
It doesn’t just contain instructions it contains the literal mechanisms by which to make the soup. It’s less an instruction manual and more part of an assembly line. Since you get your DNA from your parents, your soup will be very similar to your parents most likely, since you have the same list of steps as them.
As a thought experiment, imagine that instead of how DNA actuslly works, you’re passing on a gene for making soup.
Your DNA might be something like :
Knife
Cut vegetables into small chunks
Put vegetables in pot
Add water
Add meat
Cook
Done
It doesn’t just contain instructions it contains the literal mechanisms by which to make the soup. It’s less an instruction manual and more part of an assembly line. Since you get your DNA from your parents, your soup will be very similar to your parents most likely, since you have the same list of steps as them.
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