Even though we are made from the same foundational blueprint , we are all different . What makes u s u n i q u e ? O u r D N A ( Deoxyribonucleic Nucleic Acid ).
DNA is a long molecule that contains our unique genetic code . It is made up of four different bases represented by the letters A , T , C and G which paired together form base pairs ( e . g . A with T , G with C ). These bases are attached to two phosphate backbones which twist around each other to give the characteristic double helix . DNA is tightly packed so it takes up less space in the nucleus . If one stretched the DNA of a cell all the way out , it would be about 2m long !
What Makes Us Unique ?
An organism ’ s complete set of DNA with its 20,000 genes is called its genome . All living things have a genome ; plants , bacteria , viruses and animals . In the human body , every single cell contains a complete copy of our genome ’ s 3.2 billion letters . It ’ s a code containing the information needed to build and maintain the entire human body .
The Human Genome Project launched in 1990 , and despite the momentous obstacles faced in establishing the sequence of 3 billion base pairs , was finally able to first draft the human genome in June 2000 and then sequence it in 2003 . The total cost of this project was more than 3 billion US dollars .