DNA... jeesh

Well, I have got to admit, that video was a wee bit overwhelming! Like, a lot. :) And if I try to go through all the new concepts neatly and clearly this post may be longer then The Bible. So I'm going to have to smush things together and hopefully the concepts like each other and get along because they're just going to have to deal w/ being smushed.

Which video you ask? The Khan Academy Video about DNA...jeesh! I get confused just thinking about it! I didn't know DNA was capable of making me this confused. I just thought it made me me and left it at that. I tried going over the concepts I didn't understand, but after the 56th new concept I just kept what I got and hoped what I didn't get wasn't that important. And don't get me wrong, he did an awesome job of explaining DNA, but I just think it's too much to take in at once! :P

So, first things first, DNA is what makes us... us. I bet everyone has seen a picture of DNA before, those windy things that sorta looks like a Chinese staircase or a ladder. So say DNA is a Chinese staircase (not the bracelet type :P). The structure would be called a "Double Helix" and the stairs them self, the things you put your feet on and climb up, are made up of Guanine, Cytosine, Adenine, Thymine. Or for short, G, C, A, T. The letter corresponds to the first letter of the actual name of the molecule. So, G = Guanine.

Now, there are certain bonds with them. G bonds with C, and A bonds with T (and visa versa). These are the base pairs. So if the strand was,

GCATTGACCAGT

then the bonding strand would be

CGTAACTGGTCA

As you can see, the C is below the G symbolizing that the C bonds with the G and visa versa. Now, this much I have down, but now is when I get utterly confused and I really don't have the authority to teach or explain this because I'm just as clueless as half the people reading this. I got few concepts here and there but I'm probably going to have to sit down and watch the video again with my dad or mom and ask questions, because it's just too much information!

(for those of you who plan to watch the video, I encourage to do the same thing. Watch the video once even if you don't understand everything, and then go over the parts you're sketchy about w/ a parent and/or friend, sister, uncle/aunt etc.)

So now I'm going to say some concepts that I think I know for sure....

- It take about 3 Billion base pairs to make up someone... like you... or me... about 3 Billion base pairs.

- When the base pairs split up, (So say the example above, the strand and it's bonding strand, they split up, break up, they don't like each other anymore, they've moved on ) it can transcribe to something called a MRNA (and btw, DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid, so RNA would stand for the same thing w/out the "Deoxy" part in the front) and in a MRNA the Thymine molecule is now a Uracil. So in other words, where ever you would expect a Thymine you would get a Uracil. S0 A would bond with U now.

So for example the split strand was

ATGCTA

The MRNA strand would translate to this:

UACGAU

- Once the MRNA is transcribed (which takes place in the Nucleus) it detaches it self from the DNA strand and goes to a place outside the Nucleus called the Rybizones (i don't think that's how u spell that particular word, but that's how it sounds!)

Then some more stuff happens and that where my concepts get even more foggy. I really need to get my concepts cleaned up...

But i think that's a lot of information for now! Once I get my concepts cleaned, I shall share more about the dangerously confusing DNA we have in us.

And just some other fun facts!

- We have 23 pairs of Chromizones (I don't think that's how you spell that word either...).

- The 1st Chromizone is the longest. It has a TON of information! It has 220 MILLION base pairs!

- Girls are XX, guys are XY ...

Now my head hurts from all this information, confusion to the next level, so i am going to enjoy some meaningless television!

I hope i didn't give you a head ache!

Sab <3 :) XD!