2012 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2012. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

---

80

If I have a double helix DNA and I mate a girl with a double helix DNA, will our kids have quadruple helix DNA. Is it exponential?      Gretchen Skurla: I work as a Cancer Genetic Counselor for Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka, IN. No it is not exponential. Actually our DNA will multiply (mitosis) and divide (meiosis) before it is passed on to our children. You receive half of your DNA from your mother and half from your father. So the egg and sperm each have half the double helix so that when they combine the child will have a full double helix. Jacque Lot in PA (8th grade student)

---

< View ALL questions and answers from 2012

Or, search the 2012 transcript by keyword:
(short, single keywords work best at first)