Here are some pictures of my edible DNA:
1. What is DNA?
DNA is something that we all have in our bodies and it define who we are to what we look like. From the colour of our eyes to our hair colour, that’s what DNA does. DNA is usually found in the nucleus of a cell and contains deoxyribonucleic acid. It is also known as the molecule that sends a set of instructions to the other cells telling them how to function, what to produce, and when to stop.
DNA looks like a twisted ladder that has two strands wrapped around each other in a spiral shape – like in the photos above. Both of those sides are made up of sugar (glucose) and phosphate. If DNA were a ladder, then each one of the steps are made of four different nitrogen bases that connect to one another. Adenine (A) connects to thymine (T) and cytosine (C) connects to guanine (G).
2. What does DNA do?
Most of the time in the nucleus, DNA is in the from of chromatin, which contains DNA and proteins and then coils into a very tightly X or Y shaped chromosome. In every organism, it has a specific amount of chromosomes, such as the human body which has a total of 46 chromosomes arranged into 23 pairs. Usually, the 23rd pair determines the sex with XX for females and XY for males.
The genes are the smallest segments of DNA located on a chromosomes and can carry thousands of them. Each gene stores information needed to produce specific proteins for the body, such as enzymes and hormones which carry out very important functions for the body.
3. How does DNA copy itself?
The nucleus receives a chemical sign in order to make a specific kind of protein. The DNA then massage’s the protein is to be copied into an even smaller molecule called RNA and that leaves the nucleus through the nuclear pore.
Then, the RNA sends a message to be delivered to a ribosome to make protein. After that, the protein enters the endoplasmic reticular (the ER) and a vesicle forms at the end of it carrying the protein all the way to the Golgi body. The Golgi body then receives vesicles from the ER and repackages protein for transportation out of the cell. A vesicle then forms off the end of the Golgi body to carry out the protein to the cell membrane and the protein is then released out of the cell.