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DNA is found in the cells of every life form. All living things—plants, animals, and even bacteria—are formed of cells. Some are made of one single cell, while others, like humans, are made up of trillions of cells.
Each cell contains a set of instructions that tells it what role it will play in the body of the plant, animal, or bacteria. The instructions come in the form of a molecule called DNA.
DNA and Cell Function
DNA encodes a detailed set of plans—a blueprint—for building different parts of an organism’s body and describing how they should function.  But rather than reading the entire blueprint, cells read only the section of the blueprint they need to do their job.
For example, an optical cell uses the sections of DNA that specify details about the eye, whereas a cardiac cell uses DNA that deals with the heart.
But even though a cell might use only a portion of the DNA, most cells have all the exact same DNA content.
Continue to What Does DNA Look Like? >>
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