DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) -a kind of drawing of life, a complex code, in which data on hereditary information is concluded. This complex macromolecule is able to store and transmit hereditary genetic information from generation to generation.
DNA defines such properties of any livingorganism as heredity and variability. The information coded in it sets the entire program for the development of any living organism. Genetically predetermined factors predetermine the whole course of a person's life. Intervention by doctors or the natural impact of the environment can only slightly affect the overall severity of individual genetic traits or affect the development of programmed processes.
DNA, the decryption of which has not onlyscientific, but also practical value, allows doctors to carry out the prevention of those diseases to which a person is predisposed from birth. Knowing the peculiarities of the structure of the patient's genome, the doctor is able to predict the reaction of the body to the effect of the external environment, to predict the outcome of the disease and the effectiveness of using specific medications, etc.
Nucleic acid molecules connected inorder, control all the processes of synthesis of proteins and enzymes that control the exchange of energy and substances in the human body. The structure of proteins and their functions are determined by the amino acids they consist of. An important role is played by the order of location of these amino acids in the protein molecule.
If we consider the deep layers of DNA, its compositionfour types of nucleotides are determined: thymidyl (T), adenyl (A), guanyl (G) and cytidyl (C). The macromolecule with the chromosome cover itself reaches a length of 1 meter. Its thickness in this case is only one nanometer (one billionth of a meter).
The DNA formula looks like an alphabetic sequence of nucleotides in the chain. For example, it can look like this: AGTCATGCCAG.
DNA was the subject of research by scientists is not onedecade. The fact that the genes are separate parts of the molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid, was established already in the middle of the 20th century. At the same time, scientists were convinced that these parts of the molecules are responsible for the structure of proteins.
Based on this, athe interdependence between the chemical structure of the sections of DNA molecules and the protein molecules themselves. The essence of this dependence lies in the fact that the order of the arrangement of DNA in proteins corresponds to the order of the structural units of DNA (nucleotides) in the gene.
The discovery was revolutionary from the point of view ofunderstanding of the basic essence of DNA. Deciphering the genetic code has allowed scientists to come close to the main secrets of the hereditary information of the person.
The genetic code of a person is written asa certain sequence of nucleotides on the main information carrier - DNA. The decoding of the structure of this macromolecule in 1953 was a very important milestone in the history of microbiology. For the contribution to this discovery, J. Watson, F. Crick and M. Wilkins received the Nobel Prize.
DNA decoding takes a very long time.This is explained by the fact that one molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid contains a huge amount of information encrypted with complex code. The nucleus of one cell contains so much information that could fill a million pages of a scientific encyclopedia.
For the first time, read the human genome in the so-calleddraft version was successful in 2001, although it took two additional years to complete the project. The project was spent 300 million dollars, it involved several scientific organizations.
The complete record of the genome was made in 2007. The budget of the project was already 1 million dollars.
Today, a procedure called "DNA decoding"chromosomes of man "is performed on one installation, and its cost has decreased to a record value for the entire previous history. It is equal to 50 thousand dollars.
