What Does DNA Stand For

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). DNA is made up of two sugar phosphate backbones and it contains genetic instructions to basically make up ANY living thing on the planet. Every animal, plant, and even some viruses have DNA, and without it, they would cease to exist.

The main purpose of DNA is to be the storage space for all of the information about your body. It's kind of like when you go to a public library or the maybe the library at your school. Say you want to know about how to write the chinese alphabet. Unless you grew up in China or had Chinese parents, you're probably not going to know how to do it without some help or instruction, right? So you go to the library to learn about how to do this because you're not born knowing how to It. It's the same with DNA.

DNA is like the "book" that teaches all of the proteins in your body how to make YOU! It teaches them how to make EVERY part of you, from your ears, to your toes, and even teaches them how to make the color of your eyeballs! Pretty cool huh? :) One day scientists may actually be able to follow this "how-to-book" to make a copy of you or your sister, and maybe even your pet dog spot!

DNA has many different uses to humans, other than just telling us how to make other humans. You can read more about it's uses by referring to the menu on the left hand side of this page.