Meet the MUTANTS
What makes you who you are? It’s a molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid, better known as DNA. This omnipotent molecule is made up of twisted strands of sugars and phosphates, creating its double-helix shape. Connecting the twisting strands are four bases known as nucleotides: adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. The sequence in which these bases find themselves along each strand is what ultimately determines the development and function of an organism.
The way DNA works is similar to the way a computer reads binary code. A molecule of DNA is divided by varying lengths of base sequences called genes. Some genes contain hundreds of bases, others millions. Each gene acts as a set of instructions to program an organism, controlling what it looks like, how its body functions and even how it behaves. The complete set of genetic information in an organism is known as its genome. The human genome is held in 23 pairs of chromosomes, long bundles of DNA which sit inside the nucleus of a cell. The size of an organism’s genome varies across the spectrum of life –