Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
Chemical composition and structure of DNA
DNA is the molecule that contains the genetic information of the cell. Watson and Crick, in 1953, discovered what the structure of DNA was like, which helped them win the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962.
The model proposed by Watson and Crick or the double helix model have the following characteristics:
- DNA is made up of two chains of nucleotides joined by their nitrogenous bases that are on the inside, while the pentose and phosphoric acid are on the outside. Nitrogen bases are linked by weak bonds, called hydrogen bonds, to their complements. Adenine (A) always binds thymine (T) and guanine (G) with cytosine (C).
- The two chains are antiparallel, that is, parallel but in the opposite direction.