DNA: an overview.

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is contained inside all living things. DNA contains the necessary instructions for protein synthesis and replication. Protein synthesis is the production of protein, which is used by cells or viruses for development. Replication is the process by which DNA copies itself for each replication or virus, passing on the information needed for the protein synthesis. The nucleuses of cells contain DNA, which is stored on chromosomes. A molecule of DNA is …

…extension. With primer extension, small peices of DNA are copied and tailored, so that each DNA segment ends in one of the four different nucleotide bases. Scientists have successfully done this with the genetic material of several microorganisms. In 1998, scientists actually sequenced the entire genome of a multicellular organism, a roundworm. The Human Genome Project has now been created to determine the order of the three billion nucleotide bases that make up human genetic matter.