DATA YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT DNA

ALMOST ALL THE CELLS IN OUR BODY HAVE DNA,

THE EXCEPTION BEING RED BLOOD CELLS

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT IF YOU COULD TYPE SIXTY

WORDS PER MINUTE, EIGHT HOURS A DAY, IT

WOULD TAKE APPROXIMATELY FIFTY YEARS TO

TYPE THE HUMAN GENOME

EVERY HUMAN BEING SHARES 99 PERCENT OF

THEIR DNA WITH EVERY OTHER HUMAN, BUT A

PARENT WITH ITS CHILD SHARES 99.5 PERCENT

OF THE SAME DNA

EVEN THOUGH IT CODES FOR ALL THE

INFORMATION THAT MAKES UP AN ORGANISM,

DNA IS BUILT USING ONLY FOUR BUILDING

BLOCKS: THE NUCLEOTIDES ADENINE,

GUANINE, THYMINE, AND CYTOSINE.

MOST OF THE DNA RESIDES NOT IN THE CELL

NUCLEI, WHICH CONTROL HEREDITY, BUT IN OUR

MITOCHONDRIA, THE ORGANELLES (UNITS WITHIN

CELLS) THAT GENERATE METABOLIC ENERGY

A DNA FINGERPRINT IS A SET OF DNA MARKERS

THAT IS UNIQUE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL EXCEPT

IDENTICAL TWINS, SINCE IDENTICAL TWINS

SHARE 100 PERCENT OF THEIR GENES

CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, JAMES WATSON

AND FRANCIS CRICK DID NOT DISCOVER DNA.

THAT HONOUR GOES TO SWISS BIOCHEMIST

FRIEDRICH MIESCHER, WHO FOUND THE

MOLECULE IN THE NUCLEI OF WHITE BLOOD

CELLS IN 1869 AND CALLED IT NUCLEIN

FOR THE RECORD, WATSON AND CRICK DIDN’T

FIGURE OUT THAT DNA IS OUR GENETIC

BLUEPRINT EITHER; BACTERIOLOGIST OSWALD

AVERY AND HIS COLLEAGUES DID THAT IN THE

EARLY 1940’S. WHAT WATSON AND CRICK

ACTUALLY DID WAS DECIPHER THE DOUBLE

HELIX STRUCTURE OF DNA IN 1953