DNA is fundamental to the biology of all life on Earth, but how many of us actually know what it is or what it's made of?

Every living cell must interpret its genetic code - a sequence of chemical letters that governs countless cellular functions.

Every living cell must interpret its genetic code—a sequence of chemical letters that governs countless cellular functions. A ...

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is fundamental to your growth, reproduction, and health. Read about its basic function and structures.

Nucleotide sequences (nearest-neighbor analysis). The strongest evidence that the newly synthesized DNA is a faithful copy of the nucleotide sequence of the original priming DNA has come from the ...

Determining the order of the nucleotides within a gene is known as DNA sequencing.The earliest DNA sequencing methods were time consuming, but a major breakthrough came in 1975 with the ...

These molecules are called nucleotide bases. Different sequences of nucleotide bases are what define each species. But DNA sequences are only templates for building and maintaining organisms.

Powerful new applications of what is known as next-generation sequencing are now helping with identification of degraded ...

The DNA of some viruses doesn’t use the same four nucleotide bases found in all other life. New work shows how this exception is possible and hints that it could be more common than we think. All life ...

DNA has tremendous potential as a data storage medium, but the process of synthesizing DNA from scratch is time-consuming. It has to be done one nucleotide at a time in a specific sequence.