Early in the twentieth century, many biologists believed that the genetic material of living organisms had to be made of protein–it seemed that only proteins had the complexity to store the vast amount of genetic information that organisms need. How is
a relatively simple molecule such as DNA capable of storing large amounts of genetic information? Another requirement for genetic material is that it will sometimes need to be replicated. How does DNA satisfy this requirement?
What will be an ideal response?
Despite the fact that the structure of DNA is relatively simple, DNA can store large amounts of genetic information–this information is found in the order of the bases along a strand of DNA. Even though there are only four bases (A, C, G, T), strands of DNA can contain a huge number of bases, and these bases can be in any order along the strand. This flexibility allows vast amounts of genetic information to be stored in a molecule of DNA. In terms of replication, the structure of DNA allows for its replication because the base-pairing rules (A pairs with T and G pairs with C) allow each strand of DNA to serve as a template for synthesizing the complementary strand. This allows cells to make copies of their genetic information and pass it to the next generation.
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