"The importance of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) within living cells is undisputed" (Watson & Crick, 1953). This opening sentence of James Watson and Francis Crick's second major paper, published ...

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecule that encodes an organism's genetic blueprint. In other words, DNA contains all of the information required to build and maintain an organism. DNA was ...

In our bodies, there are trillions of cells. From white blood cells to skin cells, each type has its own specific function which helps us perform tasks and survive. But what makes up these cells and ...

Scientists at Purdue University and the University of Minnesota have solved the three-dimensional structure of the central component of a biological "motor" that powers the DNA packaging system in a ...

Here's NPR correspondent Joe Palca, from a 1993 broadcast, to commemorate the anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA. Sponsor Message : [POST-BROADCAST CLARIFICATION: This story, which ...

DNA is a biological molecule that contains the instructions an organism needs to function, develop, and reproduce. It is present in all forms of life on earth and contains each organism’s genetic code ...

DNA repair can be divided into a set of mechanisms that identify and correct damage in DNA molecules. There are two general classes of DNA repair; the direct reversal of the chemical process ...

DNA is the molecular basis of heredity, the inherited traits that pass between generations in a person's family tree. Embodied in the sequence of base pairs, DNA carries information between ...

The story of how DNA's structure was discovered is a typical scientific story of generations of research building on one another. iStock On this day in 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick (better ...