Ask A Scientist Molecular Biology Archive

status       student
age          14

Question  -   Is the DNA the same in every organism? Would the DNA of  a
paramecium be the same as the DNA of an  onion?
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The chemical makeup of DNA is the same in every organism, ie. it is made  
from the same basic chemicals.  It is the order of the bases (ATC and G)  that 
form a code that makes one organism different from another.  It is  kind of like 
our alphabet.  All words in our language are made up of a  grouping of the 
same 26 letters.  We put them in different orders and of  different lengths to 
make different words with different meanings.  DNA is  similar except that the 
code is made of only four letters.  Putting them in  different orders and of 
different lengths make new genes that code for different  proteins.
 
vanhoeck
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