Fascinating Facts About DNA
“Just one drop of your blood contains billions of strands of DNA, the building blocks of life! A DNA strand, like me, is a blueprint for building a living thing. And sometimes, animals that went extinct millions of years ago, like dinosaurs, left their blueprints behind for us to find. We just had to know where to look” —Mr DNA, Jurassic Park
If you’re a living organism—and, presumably, you are—you have DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid. The molecule holds information about genetic makeup, and it’s much better at storage than any hard-drive on the market.
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24. Quite a Find
DNA was first discovered by biochemist Friedrich Miescher in 1869, but it wasn’t until the 1940s that Oswald Avery realized DNA contains humans’ genetic blueprint.
DNA’s double-helix structure was discovered in 1953 by James Watson and Francis Crick, who are now more famous than their predecessors.
23. Human Road Map
It wasn’t until 2000 that scientists completed the first draft “map” of the human genome.
Two rival groups of scientists united to do the work, which was expected to revolutionize medicine by enabling doctors to give diagnoses and prescribe treatments tailored to each patient.
22. Whoa Baby!
The genome research also spurred fears that DNA knowledge would be used to create “designer babies,"
not only editing out genetic imperfections, but enabling parents to choose everything from their child’s hair and eye colour to their intelligence level.
