....... HOME ....... MAIN ARTICLE VERSION 1 ... HISTORY ... DISCUSSION .... GALERY .... EDIT V 1 Contents Introduction Keywords See Also References Bibliography DNA Organic Macromolecule Fundamental Component Of Life Old Version - 1, updated Tue, Mar 28, 2017 at 1:12:6, 1372 bytes - by relopez. This article is for information and educational purposes only and is not intended to give medical, legal or professional advice. Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is a marcromolecule composed of nucleic acid, and the sugar deoxyribose joined by phosphate bonds and it serves as the primary storage medium in the cells of all known living organisms. INTRODUCTION DNA is one of the fundamental components of all living organisms. It is a polymeric macromolecule composed of subunits which contain one of four types of nitrogen-containing nucleic acids. These are bound to a chain of deoxyribose sugar units which are, in turn, bound together by a phosphate bond. The molecule has the shape of a spiral ladder where two suger-phosphate chains serve as the two outside rails of the ladder and the nucleic acids serve as the rungs or steps between them. One nucleic acid is bound to each sugar molecule and each of the nucleic acids meet in the middle to form each step. The nucleic acids bind in the middle to form pairs where each nucleic acid pairs up with a specific counterpart nucleic acid. The particular sequence of nucleic acids in each chain determines the sequence of amino acids in the protein which is encoded by that segment of DNA. Every protein produced in every cell has its amino acid sequence stored in its own DNA segments. These DNA segments are called genes. KEYWORDS The following keywords are alternate terms which can be used to access this page. dna SEE ALSO REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY top