DNA Deoxyribonucleic Acid: The Origin of Your Genes
What is DNA?
Just think about it. Your very own identity is decided by combinations of 4 letters of DNA (A, T, G, and C).
There’s so much DNA in your body that it can stretch all the way to the moon.
DNA operates by building protein molecules. Ultimately, it’s protein molecules that determine who you are. For example, it gives you physical characteristics and personality traits.
“All living things have DNA. Like an instruction manual, DNA instructs your body how to build itself and behave.”
The RNA chicken and the DNA egg
A quick recap of the differences between RNA and DNA. Both DNA and RNA carry genetic information.
DNA: DNA cannot leave the nucleus.
RNA: RNA can leave the nucleus so it copies the information found in DNA. When it leaves the nucleus, it finds a ribosome to be able to make proteins. Ultimately, it’s the protein molecules that decide who you are.
So, like the chicken and the egg, which came first? Scientists don’t have a definite answer. Most biologists believe RNA preceded DNA because its structure is simpler. RNA can grasp onto other molecules and boost the speed of chemical reactions.
This is why biologists believed that RNA made the first DNA. Because DNA can store information better than RNA, RNA evolved into a DNA world.
RNA and DNA are the building blocks of life
We don’t know the origin of DNA. Scientists haven’t been able to replicate the spark that built the chemical building blocks for life. Scientists once believed the excessive heat during the late heavy bombardment stage sterilized Earth’s surface. In other words, microbes could not survive the harsh conditions on Earth at the time.
But the impacts during this violent time in Earth’s history could have created subsurface and underwater environments. Within these hydrothermal vents, any microbial life on Earth could find refuge as its own habitat.
Scientists are trying to recreate these conditions and collisions that took place to reconstruct the origins of life. This is where organic compounds and amino acids had the right conditions to synthesize from inorganic matter.
Around 4 billion years ago, there is strong evidence that all living things originated from a common ancestor called the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). Eventually, eukaryotes formed from endosymbiosis. Finally, diverse life truly emerged during the Cambrian explosion.
DNA Deoxyribonucleic Acid
Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA for short, is a nucleic acid that carries the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and many viruses.
It contains the genetic instructions for building proteins, which are then used to create cells and organisms.
If you have any questions about deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), then make sure to add a comment below.
