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Edible DNA Blog

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What is DNA?

  • Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions or information for the development and function of living things.

 

Structure of the DNA

  • The structure of the DNA is a double helix. Imagine a ladder and imagine it twisted. It almost looks like it.

 

Explain what the following parts of the model represents.

  • Licorice: The two strands of the DNA and some of its part represents the phosphate.
  • Marshmallows: It represents the 4 base elements which is present in the DNA which are:
    • Pink marshmallow: Cytosine
    • Yellow marshmallow: Adenine
    • Orange marshmallow: Thymine
    • Green marshmallow: Guanine
  • Toothpicks: The excess toothpick part which went through the licorice represents the sugar that’s present in the DNA and the toothpick part inside the model represents the nitrogen which is present in all of the 4 bases.

 

Did this activity helped me understand DNA structure? Explain why or why not.

  • It helped me understand the structure of DNA almost completely, the bases pattern, etc. because this activity made me understand how the DNA looks like by making us build an example model of the DNA structure. However, there is a flaw in this structure since the sugar should completely dominate the two strands of the DNA.