![]() ![]() Almost every single one of the cells in the body contains an exact copy of DNA. It is passed on from one generation to the next and holds the key to our survival on the planet. Pixabay.ĭNA is the chemical molecule that carries genetic information in all living things. Perhaps you remember it from school, but do you remember everything there is to it? This hard-to-pronounce name comes from its structure, a sugar (deoxyribose) and phosphate backbone (acid) with units called bases sticking out from it located in the cell’s nucleus. Interesting facts about DNA and what it stands forĭNA stands for “deoxyribonucleic acid,” and it is one of the most fascinating things you ever saw.It sends blueprints to the cell to manufacture proteins.Defining what DNA stands for: the Double helix.DNA stands for nucleotides: The four bases of DNA.DNA stands for deoxyribose and acid: The “backbone” of DNA.We now had access to the workings of life itself. The discovery of the structure of DNA was one of the great moments in modern scientific history.īy the early 1970s, the genetic code had been translated, making it possible to identify individual genes and study their function. When they published the structure of DNA in 1953, Crick said "we have discovered the secret of life." Crick was right. So this photograph along with Franklin's suggestions, her interpretation of the pattern, allowed Watson and Crick to go away and build their model of DNA. The key piece of evidence is the X that allowed Franklin to suggest that the molecule must be helical, and in fact, must have that famous double helix. It was actually taken by another scientist, Rosalind Franklin and it's what's called an X ray diffraction photograph, so Franklin shone X rays through a sample of DNA molecules and the way they scatter or diffract off the molecules, the pattern they leave on the photographic plate, allows you to deduce the structure of those molecules. And it came from a branch of physics called 'X-ray crystallography.' They desperately needed more and better data. Professor Brian Cox: It's here in Cambridge that Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the structure of DNA, the molecule that passes biological information from generation to generation.Ĭrick and Watson's approach to finding that structure was to build physical models of the molecule. That gives you such a buzz and a rush and you just feel that, you know, you've really made a difference. The job I do as a forensic scientist, you know, it's different every day, and that one particular case, it could be that, you know, the breakthrough that the police need. If you're thinking of applying for this job, is to get a good grounding in science, chemistry, physics, biology. ![]() With the police, we're using forensic science to help with their criminal investigations, using things like bloodstain pattern analysis, we're looking at body fluids.ĭNA can transfer in many different ways, my saliva could be deposited on a surface or I might have cut myself and left my blood or a hair might have fallen out.ĭNA can survive thousands of years, so we can go back to old crime scenes. Everyone's DNA is almost unique apart from that of identical twins. ![]() ![]() And what it is, it codes for your sort of genetic makeup, such as things like your eye colour and your hair colour, sort of your physical and chemical characteristics. It's found in the nucleus of cells.ĭNA is fundamental to our job. Dr Andrew Hart: My name is Dr Andrew Hart and I'm a senior forensic scientist.ĭNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, it's a complex chemical. ![]()
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