• Question: How is DNA made

    Asked by anon-195808 to Emma on 28 Jan 2019.
    • Photo: Emma Meaburn

      Emma Meaburn answered on 28 Jan 2019:

      DNA is made up of molecules called nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of a ‘base’, sugar and a phosphate molecule. Humans have four bases: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C). It is this stretch of 3 billion (!!) A, C, T,and G’s that contain all the instructions needed for a cell to grow and divide and function.

      When a cell divides (i.e., when it replicates itself), it has to make a prefect copy of the DNA in the cell. This process of DNA replication and cell division is called mitosis and we know quite a lot about how it happens, and what chemicals and enzymes are involved. This link gives a nice summary: https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-dna-replication

Comments