Courtesy of howstuffworks.com
How does our genetic information replicate? I seems these day that one's DNA could be obtain from just about every inch of a person's body, according to police procedural show. But are shows like CSI and Law & Order correct? Well, they are most of the time. The human body consists of countless number of cells, and each of these cells (most of them anyway, curiously red blood cells do not contain DNA) contains a person's complete genetic information. Now, how does DNA get into each one of these cells? During mitosis (the division of cells), one parent cell replicates its DNA and then split into two daughter cells. DNA replication begin with the unwinding of the double helix. The base pairs (the step-like structures depicted on the picture above with the letters on them) separate and complementary bases pair up to form two new double-stranded DNA's, each with one strand from the parent and one newly formed strand. Fascinating, isn't it?
No comments:
Post a Comment