What is a deoxyribonucleic acid / DNA?

A molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is used to encode an organism's genetic code. In

other words, DNA is the source of all the knowledge needed to create and maintain an organism.

When Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher, then 24 years old, isolated a substance from the white

blood cell nuclei, he called it DNA. This compound was a novel type of biological molecule

because it was neither a protein, a lipid, nor a carbohydrate. Because he had isolated it from cell

nuclei, Miescher gave his discovery the name "nuclein." This molecule is now known as DNA.

Within a single organism, nearly every cell contains the exact same DNA.

Adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine are the four different types of smaller

chemical molecules collectively known as nucleotide bases that make up the linear molecule

DNA (T). The DNA sequence refers to the arrangement of these bases. Genes are sections of

DNA that contain genetic information and are passed from parents to offspring during

reproduction.