DNA is the basic information centre of all living things, storing every little detail of the organism encoded into it’s proteins and stored for replication or reproduction of new cells. DNA holds the cell’s essential biological information, written within the base code in the centre of the double helix (Ross and Wilson, Anatomy and Physiology, 12th Ed.). It is this information that regulates every process of the organism, determines its distinct features and characteristics and also sets the distinctions between two individuals of the same species.

The function of DNA is carrying huge amounts of information that determines all biological activities of an organism, and which is transmitted from one generation to the next. Nearly every body cell contains, within its nucleus, an identical copy of the entire complement of the individual’s genetic material. Two important exceptions are red blood cells (which have no nucleus) and the gametes or sex cells (spermatozoa and ova).

The gene, contains this genetic information encoded in a long strand of DNA which are arranged in specific patterns. It is this arrangement of the bases in the DNA that determines the biological information to be passed on or transcribed and translated. There are four bases within the DNA and these are;

Adenine (A)

Guanine (G)

Thymine (T)

Cytosine (C)

These four bases are arranged in pairs and come in a precise order along the DNA molecule, making a code that can be read when protein synthesis is required in the same way computers use binary digits to send and receive information.

By biological make up, these four bases bind to each other in a specific pattern, and any such mismatch is what is capable of causing genetic abnormalities and other genetic disorders. By instructions, Adenine always pairs with thymine (and vice versa), and cytosine and guanine always go together.