DNA

Definition

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses. DNA and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are nucleic acids. Alongside proteins, lipids and complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides), nucleic acids are one of the four major types of macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life.

Related concepts

5-Methylcytosine 5-hydroxymethylcytosine 5-methylcytosine A-DNA AP News Acetylation Acid Acid strength Acridine Active site Adduct Adenine Adenosine monophosphate Adenosine triphosphate Aflatoxin Agriculture Albrecht Kossel Alec Jeffreys Alec Todd Alfred Hershey Alkylation Allele Alternative splicing Amino acid Ancient DNA Animal Anthropology Antiparallel (biochemistry)Antisense RNA Aptamers Archaea Archaeal transcription Archaeal translation Archaeogenetics Aromatic Aromaticity Arsenic DNA Artificially Expanded Genetic Information System Astrobiology Atom Atomic force microscope Autosome Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment B-DNA Backbone chain Bacteria Bacterial artificial chromosome Bacterial transcription Bacterial translation Bacteriophage Bacterium Base J Base pair Behavioural genetics Benzo(a)pyrene Bessel function Binding site Biochemistry Biofilm Bioinformatics Biology Biopolymer Biosphere Blood Blue plaque Brain Branched DNA CNN Caenorhabditis elegans Cambridge University Press Cancer Carbohydrate Carbon Carcinogen Catalysis Cavendish Laboratory Cell-free fetal DNA Cell (biology)Cell division Cell metabolism Cell nucleus Cellular differentiation Central dogma of molecular biology Chargaff's rules Chelation Chemical element Chemotherapy Chloroplast Chloroplast DNA Chromatin Chromatin remodeling Chromosomal crossover Chromosomal translocation Chromosome Chromosome 1 Chromosome territories Circular chromosome Circular prokaryote chromosome Cis-regulatory element Classical genetics Cloning vector Colin Munro MacLeod Colin Pitchfork Colloidal gold Complementarity (molecular biology)Complementary DNA Computer science Conformational isomerism Conservation genetics Cosmic dust Cosmid Covalent Covalent bond Crime scene Crosstalk (biology)Crystallography Cytochrome P450, family 1, member A1 Cytogenetics Cytoplasm Cytosine D-loop DNA-binding protein DNA (disambiguation)DNA Day DNA clamp DNA computing DNA condensation DNA damage (naturally occurring)DNA damage theory of aging DNA digital data storage DNA end DNA ligase DNA machine DNA melting DNA methylation DNA microarray DNA nanotechnology DNA origami DNA paternity testing DNA polymerase DNA profiling DNA repair DNA replication DNA sequence DNA sequencing DNA structure DNA supercoil Data corruption Data mining Data storage Database theory Daunorubicin Deamination Deletion (genetics)Deoxyribonucleotide Deoxyribose Deoxyribozyme Diploid Directionality (molecular biology)Double helix Double jeopardy Doxorubicin EcoRV Ecological genetics Ecology Egg cell Electromagnetic radiation Endonuclease Enhancer RNA Enterobacteria phage T2 Environmental DNA Enzyme Epigenetics Erwin Chargaff Ethidium bromide Eukaryote Eukaryotic transcription Eukaryotic translation Evolution Evolutionary biology Exonuclease Five-prime cap Forensic science Fosmid Francis Crick Franklin Stahl François Jacob Frederick Griffith Friedrich Miescher Fungus G-quadruplex GC-content GFAJ-1 Gene Gene expression Gene prediction Gene product Gene regulatory network Genetic code Genetic disorder Genetic diversity Genetic engineering Genetic fingerprinting Genetic genealogy Genetic history of Africa Genetic history of Europe Genetic history of Italy Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas Genetic history of the British Isles Genetic history of the Middle East Genetic insertion Genetic material Genetic monitoring Genetic recombination Genetic variation Geneticist Genetics Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia Genome Genome editing Genomic DNA Genomic imprinting Genomics Glossary of genetics Glycol nucleic acid Glycosidic bond Glycosylation Griffith's experiment Guanine Guanine tetrad Guide RNA Gunther Stent Hachimoji DNA Hair Haplotype Har Gobind Khorana He Jiankui genome editing incident Helicase Helix Helix-turn-helix Heredity Hershey–Chase experiment Heterocyclic compound Hexose Histone Histone acetylation and deacetylation History of genetics History of molecular biology Hoechst stain Holliday junction Homologous chromosome Homologous recombination Hoogsteen base pair Horace Freeland Judson Horizontal gene transfer Human Genome Project Human artificial chromosome Human genome Human mitochondrial genetics Hydrogen bond Hydrogen bonds Hydrogen peroxide Hydrolysis Hydroxyl Hypothetical types of biochemistry Immunogenetics In vitro In vivo Index of genetics articles Intercalation (biochemistry)Introduction to genetics Ion Ionic bond Jacques Monod James Watson Jean Brachet Jennifer Stern Junk DNA Karyotype Kinetoplastida Lac operon Lambda phage Life Linus Pauling Lipids List of distinct cell types in the adult human body List of genetic codes List of genetics research organizations List of standard amino acids Locked nucleic acid Machine learning Maclyn McCarty Macromolecule Marshall Warren Nirenberg Martha Chase Matt Ridley Matthew Meselson Maurice Wilkins Medical genetics Medical research Meiosis Memory latency Mendelian inheritance Merriam-Webster Meselson–Stahl experiment Messenger RNA Meteorite Methyl group Methylation MicroRNA Microbial genetics Minisatellite Missing heritability problem Mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrion Molecular biology Molecular cloning Molecular evolution Molecular genetics Molecular models of DNA Molecular motor Molecular recognition Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids Monomer Monosaccharide Morpholino nucleic acid Multicopy single-stranded DNA Multiple sequence alignment Mutagen Mutation Mycobacterium tuberculosis NASA Nanometre Nanotechnology Natural selection Nature (journal)Nikolai Koltsov Nitrogenous base Nobel Prize in Chemistry Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Non-coding RNA Non-homologous recombination Nuclear DNA Nuclear genome Nuclear organization Nuclease Nucleic acid Nucleic acid analogue Nucleic acid double helix Nucleic acid methods Nucleic acid notation Nucleic acid sequence Nucleobase Nucleoid Nucleophile Nucleoside Nucleoside-modified messenger RNA Nucleoside triphosphate Nucleosome Nucleotide Nucleotide base Okazaki fragment Organellar DNA Organic compound Organic molecules Organism Organophosphate Origin of DNA Oswald Avery Outer space Outline of genetics Overlapping gene Oxford University Press Oxidizing agent P-bodies P1-derived artificial chromosome PH Paracrystalline Patterson function Pentose Peptide nucleic acid Peptide sequence Personalized medicine Phagemid Phenol-chloroform extraction Phenotype Phoebus Levene Phosphate Phosphodiester bond Phosphoric acid Phosphorothioate nucleic acid Phosphorylation Photo 51 Phylogenetics Pierre Baldi Pitch (screw)Piwi-interacting RNA Plant Plant genetics Plasmid Plastid DNA Point mutation Polyadenylation Polyamine Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Polyhedron Polymer Polymerase Polymerase chain reaction Polynucleotide Polysaccharide Population genetics Population genomics Post-transcriptional modification Post-transcriptional regulation Post-translational modification Post-translational regulation Pribnow box Primary transcript Principle of least effort Prion Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Prokaryote Promoter (biology)Promoter (genetics)Proofreading (biology)Protein Protein A Protein Data Bank Protein biosynthesis Protein complex Protein interactions Proteolysis Proteopedia Protist Proton Pub Purine Pus Pyrimidine Quantitative genetics RAD51 RNA RNA-dependent RNA polymerase RNA interference RNA polymerase RNA polymerase II RNA splicing RNA world hypothesis Radical (chemistry)Raymond Gosling Recombinant DNA Recombinase Red giant Regulation of gene expression Replication fork Replisome Reproduction Restriction digest Restriction enzyme Restriction modification system Retrovirus Reverse genetics Reverse transcriptase Reverse transcription Ribonucleic acid Ribose Ribosomal DNA Ribosomal RNA Ribosome Ribosome-nascent chain complex Ribozyme Robert Corey Robert Olby Robert W. Holley Rosalind Franklin Saliva ScienceDaily Science (journal)Sea urchin Semen Sense (molecular biology)Sense and Antisense (Millennium)Sequence alignment Sequence homology Sex chromosome Sexual reproduction Shadow biosphere Short hairpin RNA Short tandem repeat Signal transduction Skin Small Cajal body-specific RNA Small interfering RNA Small nuclear RNA Small nucleolar RNA Small temporal RNA Southern blot Space group Stacking (chemistry)Stem-loop Storage density Streptavidin String searching algorithm Subgenomic mRNA Systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment Telomerase Telomere Telomeres Temperature Teratogen Terminator (genetics)The Eagle, Cambridge The Journal of Experimental Medicine The New York Times Threose nucleic acid Thymine Thymine dimer Timeline of evolution Timeline of the history of genetics Tobacco smoking Topoisomerase Trait (biology)Trans-acting siRNA Transcription (biology)Transcription (genetics)Transcription factor Transcriptional regulation Transfer-messenger RNA Transfer RNA Transformation (genetics)Translation (biology)Translation (genetics)Translational regulation Transmission (genetics)Triple-stranded DNA Ultraviolet Universe University of California, San Diego University of Cambridge Uracil Vertebrate Viral vector Virus William Astbury Woolly mammoth X-inactivation X-ray X-ray diffraction X-ray scattering techniques Xeno nucleic acid Y RNA Yeast artificial chromosome Z-DNA Ångström

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