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DNA and the Transfer of Information

            DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid and is used in the body to carry and transfer information that influences the physical and behavioral characteristics of an organism. DNA consists of two unbranched polynucleotide chains made of 4 types of nucleotide. Each nucleotide is made of three parts; a nitrogen containing organic base, a pentose sugar and one or more phosphate groups. The organic base is one of four types but they all contain nitrogen; adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T). The nucleotides in each polynucleotide chain are joined together between the phosphate group of one nucleotide and the hydroxyl group on carbon 3 of the sugar on another nucleotide. The two-polynucleotide chains of each DNA molecule are joined by pairs of bases held together by hydrogen bonds. These bonds are individually quite weak but in large numbers very strong. This helps to make DNA a very stable molecule which is an essential feature for a molecule, which carries and transfers vital information. .
             The fact that the polypeptides are joined together only by hydrogen bonds means that they can easily be broken and the strands can separate for replication and protein synthesis which allows for information to be transferred. DNA is a large molecule therefore it can store large amounts of information, this is essential as the organisms entire genetic code and instructions for life in a sense need to be stored in a secure molecule which easily allows for replication. Guanine will always pair with cytosine by means of three hydrogen bonds. Adenine will always pair with thymine by the means of 2 hydrogen bonds. Base pairing allows for the protection of genetic information from being corrupted by external chemical and physical processes, which protects the genetic information and therefore information can be transferred without being damaged. DNA has a universal code which means that there are the same triplet of bases which code for an amino acid in all organisms, for example UUU codes for Pheline in all organisms.


Essays Related to DNA and the Transfer of Information

1. dna

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid are two chemical substances involved in transmitting genetic information from parent to offspring. ... The information within the bases of DNA is called the genetic code. ... Transcription can be described as a process where information is transferred from DNA to RNA. ... (Miller, 147) When information is given from DNA to RNA, it comes coded. ... (Heath, 116) This process is also dependent on another type of RNA called transfer RNA (tRNA). ...

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2. DNA

The X-Rays are diffracted by the crystal, and the patterns they make give a skilled scientist, armed with a computer, information about the positions of atoms in the molecule. ... DNA Structure DNA is double stranded. ... DNA technology is very useful in solving crimes because you can extract DNA from many different substances. ... Project goals are to identify all the approximate 30,000 genes in human DNA, determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA, store this information in databases, improve tools for data analysis, transfer rel...

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3. Protein Synthesis

Protein synthesis is the process of transferring information from a gene to a protein. ... Protein synthesis consists of two main categories: transcription, which is the process of copying RNA information to DNA, and translation, which is the process of turning RNA information to DNA. Transcription is the process of copying DNA information to RNA. ... Translation is the process of turning RNA information to DNA. ... These two main processes of protein synthesis, transferring information from a gene to a protein, are transcription and translation. ...

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4. DNA Fingerprinting

DNA Fingerprinting: Guilty or Innocent? ... DNA tests also work with sites in DNA that have different lengths because of their variable numbers of repeated units (VNTRs) (Housman 543). ... This procedure, called "amplification," which uses DNA polymerase to create exact copies of fragment of DNA in a test tube at very high rates, reaches a result in several hours ("DNA Identification" 4). ... Probes, segments of known DNA, are embedded with radioactive phosphorus-32 and added to the membrane where they bond to the exact DNA fragment and transfer their radioactivity selectively to those f...

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5. DNA Big Topics

(DNA, Chromosomes) and Cell Cycle Chapters (16) and 17: Chapter 16: Genome consists of DNA that contains one complete copy of all the genetic information of that organism (eukaryotic cells have a nuclear genome (multiple DNA molecules dispersed among haploid or diploid set of chromosomes,) mitochondrial genome (single, usually circular DNA molecules resembling those of bacteria,) and in the case of plants and algae, a chloroplast genome (same as mitochondrial.) ... Simplicity: a DNA polymerase Required: 1) DNA sequence with a known base sequence 2) short ss DNA primers (chosen base...

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6. DNA Mysteries And Miracles

Hippocrates, among many other philosophers, pondered heredity and came up with the theory of pangenesis, which states that sex involves the transfer of miniaturized, invisible body parts (Human Genetics, Notes p. 407). ... Debates over whether it was proteins or DNA that were the bearers of "genetic instruction" for human life, (even though DNA was located exclusively ON the chromosomes), kept the latter out of the picture until 1944 (DNA Watson). ... The answer finally came when they subjected the heat-treated form to the DNase, a DNA-destroying enzyme; all reproduction of the lethal Pneumo...

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7. heredity

The information within the bases of DNA is called the genetic code. ... The mRNA carries the genetic information from the DNA in the nucleus out to the ribosomes in the cytoplasm during transcription. ... Transcription can be described as a process where information is transferred from DNA to RNA. ... (Miller, 147) When information is given from DNA to RNA, it comes coded. ... (Heath, 116) This process is also dependent on another type of RNA called transfer RNA (tRNA). ...

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  • Grade Level: High School

8. Geneic engineering

For genetic engineering to occur you must first start with a single cell (from a plant, animal ,or a fungus) in which your able to transfer the cell of that organism and transfer it into another organism. ... For a scientist to study the piece of DNA it must first isolated then it can be spliced from there and put next to another DNA of a different organism. ... Some times a virus will interrogate their genetic information into the DNA host of the cell (such as one of our own), multiply, and then infect all of the other cells surrounding one cell and infect it, then multiply. ... It is like...

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  • Grade Level: High School

9. RNA vs DNA

RNA is the step between DNA and protein synthesis. With a few differences, RNA is chemically similar to DNA. ... DNA contains deoxyribose as its sugar. ... The information is transcribed from one molecule to the other. ... Transfer RNA (tRNA) serves as an adaptor molecule in protein synthesis, and translates mRNA codons into amino acids. ...

  • Word Count: 296
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

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