Contents
- 10 Experiments on the transformation of bacteria proved: DNA is a carrier of information
- 9. All humans have some Neanderthal DNA except Africans
- 8. The DNA of all people is 99,9% the same
- 7. About 2 grams of DNA can contain all the world’s information in digital form.
- 6. DNA decay period 521 years
- 5. The ISS holds a hard drive with human DNA
- 4. DNA tests show all cheetahs are almost identical
- 3. Twins’ DNA is only similar at conception
- 2. The DNA of all cells in the body can be stretched over 16 billion km
- 1. DNA can determine disease risk
On April 25, 1953, British molecular biologists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the chemical structure of the DNA molecule, which we now know as the double helix. World DNA Day is celebrated on 25 April to commemorate the achievements of two British scientists.
dna, abbreviation from Deoxyribonucleic acid, contains the genetic instructions for the development and functioning of a living thing – and here are a few things you might want to know about this key component of life in your body.
10 Experiments on the transformation of bacteria proved: DNA is a carrier of information
DNA as a carrier of genetic information became known by the end of the 1940s. (Weaver, 2002). However, its structure has never been understood. It was when Rosalind Franklin made an x-ray analysis (1952) of a crystallized DNA solution that speculation about the structure of DNA began.
DNA is a structural sequence of nucleic acid in which information is encoded into a unit called genes. Information passed on to offspring cannot be obtained with DNA alone. This process is accompanied by various RNAs.
The information contained in the four basic languages of DNA, A, G, U & T, is copied into the four basic languages of RNA, that is, A, G, C & U, through a process called Transcription.
9. All humans have some Neanderthal DNA except Africans
When our ancestors first migrated from Africa about 70 years ago, they were not alone. At the time, at least two other species of hominin cousins were roaming the Eurasian continent—Neanderthals and Denisovans.
When our modern human ancestors migrated across Eurasia, they encountered Neanderthals and interbred. Because of this, a small amount of Neanderthal DNA has been introduced into the modern human gene pool.
Every person living outside of Africa today has a small number of Neanderthals in them., which are a living relic of these ancient clashes.
A team of scientists comparing the complete genomes of the two species concluded that most Europeans and Asians have approximately 2% Neanderthal DNA. Indigenous Africans south of the Sahara have no or very little Neanderthal DNA because their ancestors did not migrate across Eurasia.
8. The DNA of all people is 99,9% the same
Our bodies have 3 billion genetic building blocks or base pairs that make us who we are. And of those 3 billion base pairs, only a small number are unique to us, which is makes us about 99,9% genetically similar to any other person.
A recent TED talk by physicist and entrepreneur Riccardo Sabatini showed that a printed version of your entire genetic code would take up about 262 pages, or 000 large books. Of these pages, only about 175 would be unique to us.
7. About 2 grams of DNA can contain all the world’s information in digital form.
Like all the best ideas, this question was born in a pub. Nick Goldman and Ewen Birney of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) near Cambridge have been thinking about what they can do with the flood of genomic data that their research team is generating, all of which should be archived.
The amount of data is growing faster than the capacity of the hard drives used to store it. “This means that the cost of storage is going up, but our budgets are not.” says Dr. Goldman.
Over a few beers, the couple wondered if artificially engineered DNA might be one way to store the data stream generated by natural material.
Not only can 1 gram of DNA hold 455 exabytes of data (enough to store everything from Google, Facebook, and every other major tech company put together), it’s also highly durable.
6. DNA decay period 521 years
In 2013, investigators in the 1960s Boston-Strangler murder case said that DNA taken from a blanket at one of the crime scenes matched very closely that of Albert DeSalvo, a family member suspected of murder.
Thus, the findings link DeSalvo to the crime scene. Officials now have permission to exhume the remains of DeSalvo, who died in 1973, to test the DNA of his body and confirm a match, according to the New York Times.
In 2012, researchers calculated that the half-life of DNA, the point at which half of the bonds in the backbone of the DNA molecule are broken, is 521 years. This means that under ideal conditions, DNA will last about 6,8 million years, after which all bonds will be broken..
5. The ISS holds a hard drive with human DNA
The “Disk of Immortality” is a large memory device that was delivered to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft on October 12, 2008.
“Disk of Immortality” contains fully digitized DNA sequences of a select group of peoplesuch as physicist Stephen Hawking, comedian and show host Stephen Colbert, Playboy model Joe Garcia, game designer Richard Garriott, fantasy writers Tracey Hickman and Laura Hickman, professional wrestler Matt Morgan, and athlete Lance Armstrong.
The microchip also contains a copy of George’s Secret Key to the Universe, a children’s book written by Stephen Hawking and his daughter Lucy.
The purpose of Immortal Attraction is to keep human DNA in a time capsule in case a global cataclysm occurs on Earth.
4. DNA tests show all cheetahs are almost identical
Genetic variation is a key component of evolution. A population with low genetic variability is something like a sitting duck, vulnerable to all sorts of environmental changes in spite of which a more variable population can persist.
And, unfortunately, this is precisely the kind of circumstance that cheetahs face today. As a species, cheetahs have a low level of genetic variation.. This can probably be explained by the small population they inhabited around 10 years ago, narrowly avoiding extinction at the end of the last ice age.
However, nowadays the situation has worsened. Habitat encroachment and poaching are further reducing cheetah numbers, causing even more genetic variation to be wiped out and making cheetahs even more vulnerable to extinction.
3. Twins’ DNA is only similar at conception
It’s a basic principle of human biology taught in elementary schools everywhere: identical twins come from the same fertilized egg and thus have identical genetic characteristics.
But it has long been known that identical twins develop differences as a result of environmental influences. And in recent years it has also been shown that some of their differences may be due to unique changes in so-called epigenetic factors, chemical markers that attach to genes and influence how they are expressed – in some cases by slowing down or stopping genes from being turned off. and in others by increasing their production.
2. The DNA of all cells in the body can be stretched over 16 billion km
If the DNA in all the cells of the human body were not folded, it would stretch over 16 billion kilometers.. For comparison: depending on the location in their orbits, the distance from Earth to Pluto varies from 4 to 7,5 billion kilometers.
1. DNA can determine disease risk
DNA testing to predict disease risk could prevent disease and save lives. DNA screening will involve a large number of healthy individuals undergoing DNA testing by providing a simple sample of blood or saliva to determine risk for certain conditions. Testing includes types of cancer or heart disease that run in families – and can be prevented