DNA the Code of Life
Now what exactly is DNA? DNA is the material that
codes for the many physical characteristics of every living creature.
Your cells use different codes to determine what functions to carry out,
just as you use code to communicate. Codes have always been used
for communication from the Egyptian hieroglyphics to the English alphabet
of today. Every symbol in ancient Greek, Chinese, and Japanese is
part of a code. The book, The Hobbit, used a fictional code
of runes as an ancient language. Whenever there is a secret code,
somebody has to crack it so that it can be read. There was a special
group of people during World War II that tried to crack the secret coded
messages of the Nazis and the Japanese. Just as these people cracked
coded messages, scientists found the secret code of life, DNA.
Contents
Nucleic acids are the subunits of a DNA strand.
This section explains the structure and is essential to know for replication
and transcription.
Replication is the copying of a DNA strand that results
in two strands.
Transcription is the function of the cell "reading"
DNA to make a protein.