Deoxyribonucleic acid

DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic acid, is a material found in us all, profiling what we're like and where we've come from. It is a biological material that enables an individual to be identified against any other individual anywhere in the world. Three billion base pairs of molecular genetics are needed for human DNA. It is a road map of information that is made up of chromosomes and genetic information and serves to determine everything about you. Billions of DNA arranges themselves into 46 chromosomes. These 46 chromosomes form the basic foundation of an off-spring of a race.

DNA units carry the basic structure of genes which are extremely helpful in carrying genetic information. It is a molecule that stores information over long periods of time. You may have heard the term 'double helix'. It is two strands coiled round each other. Each strand is made up of nucleotides backed up by a strong backbone of sugar, a phosphate group and four nitrogenous bases allows for the molecule to be arranged in a way by which a code is formed. This code is determined by the sequence of the four nitrogenous bases namely, adenosine (A), cytosine (C), thymine (T), and guanine (G). During the replication process, this code is transferred to the new DNA molecules that are formed through a process by which a gene that is formed or coded in the same sequence in which the nitrogenous bases are sequenced in the DNA. These genes then determine the proteins that make up and establish the biological characteristics of an organism.

You inherit half your DNA from your mother and half from your father. The genes are all in pairs and which of each pair you inherit from each parent is randomly determined when the egg or sperm cells are developing. It is this that ensures DNA is unique, and allows for accurate testing of parentage and direct descendant through a DNA paternity test.