Could someone explain to me the very bare basics of DNA?

Question

Like, in a nutshell, what is it, how does it work? All I know is that you can identify someone with it, and that is defines some characteristics in a person/ animal.

Answer 1

have you ever seen tinker toys?

it's kind of like you had 4 different pieces, out of which you could make a ladder.

kind of like this.

http://www.biologycorner.com/resources/D...

the 4 are abbreviated  A,  T,  C,  G.

if you look at the picture, you'll have a pretty good idea.

A can only be across from T and

C can only be across from G.

however, lengthwise, the connections are all the same.

"How they work"

the DNA disconnects (with help) in the middle, and a strip of RNA is made that matches the DNA.

that RNA is then used to create a protein that you need in your body.

your DNA determines the patterns of protein that you can create.

so if, for example, you have DNA that's messed up. there will be a specific protein that you cannot make.

it's sort of like a jigsaw puzzle.

the DNA is one side, and you can create the opposite side.

but if you don't have the correct first side, you cannot make the other side.

Answer 2

I'm a high school biology teacher.  My classes, my school year, begin in four days. I'll give you tools to help you understand this exceedingly complex subject but you have to know that YOU have to do a little bit of work to really "get it".

~~

So.  Your questions.

Q1.  What is DNA?

A:  Go to this website and really listen to the short explanation.  I bet you'll get it, easily.  (http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/bas...

B.  Here's another really good site.  The information is far more complete.  If you actually want a good understanding of this or almost anything else relating to jr/high school level basic genetics, i urge you to give this site a look: http://www.dnaftb.org/dnaftb/19/concept/...

C.  DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid (DEE-ox-ee-rye-bow-new-clay-ick acid), is a very important molecule found in all cells. It contains information used in everyday metabolism and growth and influences most of our characteristics.

DNA is often described as the blueprint of an organism because it enables various cells to develop and work together to form a fully functional body, and controls characteristics such as eye colour. How much DNA influences very complex features, such as intelligence, is not yet fully understood.

The information that DNA contains is passed from one generation to the next and there is much debate over how much of what we are like is due to inheritance and defined by our DNA (nature) or by the influence of the environment (nurture).

Q2.  How does DNA work?

A.  My answer is cut and pasted from here: http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?...  It's the best basic, simple, easy-to-understand, non-technical, intuitive explanation i've ever come across.  I use it with my students before we get into the meat of the subject.  (I cut out a bit for you, here.)

DNA is information. Think of DNA as a collection of cookbooks that contains all the recipes for making and running living things like worms, plants, birds, and people. These recipes determine whether you’re a man or a woman, give you your eye color, and tell your body to have two arms and legs, instead of branches and leaves, or tentacles. Almost all of the trillions of cells in your body contain a copy of the entire cookbook collection in a smaller compartment inside the cell called the nucleus.

So how does DNA work?

Imagine that you are making some food in the kitchen. Now imagine that you keep all of your cookbooks bolted to a shelf in the living room. (You may think that’s a silly idea, but you have to keep in mind that the logic of biology is sometimes hard to understand.) Okay, so how are you going to make a recipe if you’re not in the same room? You go to the living room and copy it down, and then you bring the copy into the kitchen. When you get to the kitchen, you get the ingredients, follow the recipe, and then you have some food!

In this example, the recipe (a gene) is copied. (Actually, since there are two of each cookbook (chromosome), the recipe is copied twice, once from each cookbook.) Each copy of the recipe (which, in the cell, is another molecule called messenger RNA) is taken from the living room (the nucleus) to the kitchen (the cytoplasm) where the recipe is converted from words into actual food. In the cell, the finished product of all this effort is called a protein.

Besides being in the food we eat, proteins do almost everything in the cell—they are what the information in DNA is converted into. They produce and are what the cells are made of, they give you energy, digest your food, and just about everything else. Some examples are hormones (like estrogen, testosterone, or steroids), pigments (that give eyes and skin their color), and antibodies (which help your body fight off infections).

So there you have it. DNA’s job is to provide the information on how to build and operate an organism. It does this by having its code copied to messenger RNA and then being translated from the messenger RNA into protein. The proteins are the real workhorses; in most cases, proteins that do just about everything the cell needs are end product of all that effort.

Answer 3

Ah, the part of Biology class which I found most difficult, next to production of ATP (energy).  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA

Have fun.

Answer 4

Ok. Not getting too complicated, DNA is the material that drives every single cell in your body. Each cell has a copy of your DNA. Basically, DNA is the instructions for the cell to follow by.

DNA codes for proteins via the 4 base alphabet AGCT. These proteins do all of the work in the cell, either making the correct eye color, activate programed cell death (apoptosis), or color of hair. There are many things I could list, but it will take too long.

Imagine this simple analogy: You buy a nice computer desk from a furniture store. The instructions (aka the DNA ) come with the desk and the desk is the product (aka the protein). You are following the instructions to put the desk together. This is exactly what happens with DNA. RNA polemerase makes a mRNA (I am not including the modifications of mRNA like splicing and capping if you want to know more email me or post another question) via the DNA. Then the mRNA (instructions from the DNA) helps put the protein together.

good luck.