Interactive · 2 questions
Known as the blueprint of life, DNA, short for Deoxyribonucleic acid, holds the genetic information that allows life to reproduce and continue.
What does DNA stand for?
DNA is made up of two long strands, each of which is called a sugar-phosphate backbone.
These two sugar-phosphate backbones are, as you may have already guessed, made up of alternating sugar and phosphate molecules. The sugar and phosphate molecules are linked through phosphodiester bonds.
How are the sugars and phosphates in the sugar-phosphate backbone connected?
The two sugar-phosphate backbones that make up DNA twist around an imaginary axis to form a double helix, which is the three-dimensional structure of DNA.
