- DNA is abbreviated from deoxyribonucleic acid – it codes GENETIC MAKEUP
- Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA in 1869. However, at that time DNA was not known to be the genetic material in cells.
- Humans are 99.9% alike. Every human shares the 99.9% of their DNA to other humans. The rest of the 0.1% is what makes us unique.
- 5 – 8% of people’s DNA is not human. It’s viral DNA. It is gathered that there are 100,000 pieces of DNA from retroviruses that are collected during human evolution.
- Humans share 98.7% of their DNA to chimpanzees.
- They also share 85% of their DNA with a mouse, 40% with a fruit fly and 41% with banana.
- DNA is very fragile. There are about 1,000 things that can happen to our DNA every day that can cause faults. These external factors that change DNA could be caused by sunlight’s ultraviolet or other activities that can damage the DNA. Even though our body has a repair mechanism, not all damages can be repaired to the same condition they were before, which will result to DNA mutations.
- Identical twins have the same genetic codes. However, as they get older, outside factors like environment or lifestyle can make subtle difference in gene expressions between the two.
- If DNA strings are unwound then linked together, multiply that with 10 trillion body cells, it could make a hundred of round trips to the sun!
- Almost all cells in our body contain DNA, except red blood cells. Red blood cells did start with a DNA, which is destroyed during the maturation process when it is no longer needed.
SHARE THESE FACTS AND VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE DNA INFO………