====== DNA ====== [[Deoxyribonucleic acid]] is a [[molecule]] that encodes the [[genome]] used in the development and functioning of all known living [[organism]]s and many [[virus]]es. DNA is a [[nucleic acid]]; alongside [[protein]]s and [[carbohydrate]]s, [[nucleic acid]]s compose the three major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life. {{::dna.png?200|}} Most DNA molecules consist of two biopolymer strands coiled around each other to form a double helix. The two DNA strands are known as [[polynucleotide]]s since they are composed of simpler units called [[nucleotide]]s. Each nucleotide is composed of a nitrogen-containing nucleobase—either [[guanine]] (G), [[adenine]] (A), [[thymine]] (T), or [[cytosine]] (C)—as well as a monosaccharide sugar called deoxyribose and a phosphate group. The nucleotides are joined to one another in a chain by covalent bonds between the sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate of the next, resulting in an alternating sugar-[[phosphate]] backbone. According to base pairing rules (A with T and C with G), hydrogen bonds bind the nitrogenous bases of the two separate polynucleotide strands to make double-stranded DNA. ===== Genomic DNA ===== [[Genomic DNA]] ===== Recombinant DNA ===== [[Recombinant DNA]]. ===== DNA damage ===== [[DNA damage]]. ===== DNA repair ===== [[DNA repair]]. ===== DNA diagnostics ===== [[ DNA diagnostics]]