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Definition: deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from Processing Water, Wastewater, Residuals, and Excreta for Health and Environmental Protection: An Encyclopedic Dictionary

The double-stranded, helix-shaped macromolecule that contains the hereditary material vital to reproduction and transmitted between generations of cells. It consists of molecules of long unbranched chains of nucleotides, which are combinations of phosphoric acid (H3PO4), the monosaccharide deoxyribose, and one of the four nitrogenous compounds: adenine (C5H5N5), cytosine (C4H5N3O), guanine (C5H5N5O), and thymine (C5H6N2O2). See also plasmid DNA, ribonucleic acid.


DNA

From The Human Body Book: An Illustrated Guide to Its Structure, Function and Disorders
Often referred to as the molecule of life, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is found in almost all living things. It acts as a type of chemical code that contains instructions, known as genes, for how the body and all its different parts grow, develop, function, and maintain themselves. In nearly all human cells, DNA is packaged into 46 X-shaped elements called chromosomes, which are situated in the cell’s nucleus. DNA’s enormous list of instructions takes the form of long, thin molecules, one per chromosome, each taking the shape of a double-helix. Each double-helix has two long, corkscrew-like strands, which act as “backbones” for the molecule, twining around each other. These are held together by rungs, like a twisted ladder. The rungs are made of pairs of chemicals called bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), thymine (T), and cytosine (C). In each rung, A always pairs with T, and G with C. This structure gives DNA its two key features: the order of the bases contains the chromosome’s genetic…
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Full text Article DNA

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Using a technique known as DNA fingerprinting, a...
(deoxyribonucleic acid) Molecule found in all cells, and in some viruses, which is responsible for forming the genetic code . It consists of two long chains of alternating deoxyribose sugar molecules and phosphate groups linked by nitrogenous bases. A base and its associated sugar are known as a…
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Full text Article DNA

From The Human Body Book: An Illustrated Guide to Its Structure, Function and Disorders Full text Article Integrated Body
Double helix
A DNA molecule is coiled and...
Often referred to as the molecule of life, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is found in almost all living things. It acts as a type of chemical code that contains instructions, known as genes, for how the body and all its different parts grow, develop, function, and maintain themselves. In nearly all…
| 918 words , 9 images
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Full text Article DNA and DNA Testing

From World of Criminal Justice, Gale
Gloved left hand holding a chemical “blueprint”...
The use of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) as forensic evidence has become a powerful and controversial issue in criminal law. The development of DNA profiling analysis, popularly known as DNA “fingerprinting,” has been hailed by law enforcement as a way to identify individuals from a small sample of…
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Full text Article deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

From The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology
A large, complex molecule made up of four nucleotide bases ( adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine ) and a ‘backbone’ of a sugar molecule (specifically, 2-deoxy-D-ribose , hence the name). The nucleotide bases are arranged in pairs down the centre of the double-helix-shaped molecule, forming the…
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Full text Article DNA

From Collins Dictionary of Law
abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, a chemical which is found in virtually every cell in the body and which carries genetic information. Except for identical twins, each person's DNA is unique. DNA profiling doesn't allow the examination of every single difference between people's DNA so the…
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Full text Article DNA

From Dictionary of Microbiology & Molecular Biology
Deoxyribonucleic acid: a NUCLEIC ACID consisting of deoxyribo NUCLEOTIDES , each of which typically contains one of the bases adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine (cf. e.g. BACTERIOPHAGE and DNA METHYLATION ). (See also RNA .) DNA is the repository of genetic information in all cells and in many…
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Full text Article DNA ‡

From Cambridge Dictionary of Human Biology and Evolution
Deoxyribonucleic acid. Usually, a long, unbranched polynucleotide of paired bases (see the base pairing rule) linked by two spiraling backbones running in opposite directions (DNA is thus double stranded, forming an antiparallel double helix) ; DNA is the primary hereditary material in all cells. …
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Full text Article DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

From Penguin Dictionary of Biology
The nucleic acid forming the genetic material of all cells, some organelles, and many viruses; a major component of CHROMOSOMES and the sole component of PLASMIDS . A polymer (polynucleotide), which is formed in cells by enzymatic dephosphorylation and CONDENSATION of many (deoxyribo) NUCLEOSIDE…
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Full text Article DNA

From The Penguin Dictionary of Science
DNA
Abbr. for deoxyribonucleic acid. A ➤ polynucleotide molecule which comprises the genetic material of organisms, consisting of the sugar ➤ deoxyribose , phosphate groups and nitrogenous bases. The molecule has a sugar-phosphate backbone , consisting of phosphate groups bonded to the third and fifth…
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Full text Article DNA

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
DNA double helix. A. Molecular model of DNA. The...
One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA ); a complex organic compound found in all living cell s and many virus es. It is the chemical substance of gene s. Its structure, with two strands wound around each other in a double helix to resemble a twisted ladder, was first described (1953) by…
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