DNA the Code of Life
Now what exactly is DNA? DNA is the
material that codes for the many physical characteristics of every living
creature. Your cells use different codes to determine what functions
to carry out, just as you use code to communicate. Codes have always
been used for communication from the Egyptian hieroglyphics to the English
alphabet of today. Every symbol in ancient Greek, Chinese, and
Japanese is part of a code. The book, The Hobbit, used a
fictional code of runes as an ancient language. Whenever there is a
secret code, somebody has to crack it so that it can be read. There
was a special group of people during World War II that tried to crack the
secret coded messages of the Nazis and the Japanese. Just as these
people cracked coded messages, scientists found the secret code of life,
DNA.Contents
..Nucleic acids are the subunits of a DNA strand. This section explains the structure and is essential to know for replication and transcription.
Replication is the copying of a DNA strand that results in two strands.
Transcription is the function of the cell "reading" DNA to make a protein.
Information provided by: http://library.thinkquest.org