What is DNA?
- An animal is made of cells, inside each cell is a nucleus, within the cell nucleus are pairs of chromosomes, chromosomes are bundles of DNA.
- DNA contains the instructions for the development, function and appearance of an organism.
- DNA structure is comprised of smaller units called nucleotides, which are arranged in a sequence that looks like a long-twisted ladder, or double helix. The rungs of the ladder are comprised of two nitrogenous bases, or ‘base pairs’.
- The sequence of base pairs varies between animals and provides the key functionality of DNA and the base for genetic variation witnessed between animals.
- DNA testing, or ‘genotyping’ is the process of ‘reading’ an animal’s DNA and identifying the base pairs that exist at targeted locations within its DNA.
