The DNA figure (shown on the home page)

The model shows key features of deoxyribonucleic acid, commonly known as DNA.

DNA is the genetic material -- in almost all organisms. (A few viruses use the closely related RNA.) How genetic information is carried in the DNA is a subject that is introduced in even beginning chemistry courses.

DNA is relevant to all of the courses described at this web site. Studying the genetic material, how it works, and how we can manipulate it are all major aspects of molecular biology and biotechnology. Understanding DNA is chemistry.

This Fig is from the Glossary of the NIH genome site, https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary. Choose deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The figure is also shown on my page Biotechnology in the News (BITN) -- DNA and the genome. (The figure shown here is from an older version of the NIH page.)

For the famous paper in which the iconic double-stranded structure of DNA was first proposed, see the Musings post The original Watson-Crick paper on the structure of DNA (October 25, 2010).

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