The Magic of DNA - how it encodes genetic information, replicates, and how it can tell us about our evolutionary past
This post is an attempt to understand the basics of DNA, its functioning and its usefulness in understanding human evolution and migrations. I am not an expert on the subject. Please treat this post as Notes written to Self to understand a topic of my interest. There may be mistakes in my understanding. Would welcome information on such mistakes in the Comments. We know that “DNA” determines the physical characteristics of an organism as it develops from a single cell to a fully developed individual. But what is DNA, and how does it work? Think of DNA as an ingenious technology for “storing” the “program” which controls the development and sustenance of the living being. Just like a disk drive stores software for driving a computer. There is one more important characteristic of DNA. It can replicate itself. The new DNA produced after replication also has a complete replica of the “program” stored in the original DNA. This self replication property of DNA is what makes t...