DNA and molecular genetics

When Watson and Crick published a paper in 1953 describing the structure for DNA, the study of biology and the world as a whole were forever changed. DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the building block of all living things on Earth. It holds the codes for every quality of every being, ranging from the size of a bacterium to the length of the beak on a bird to the shade of a person’s hair. Since this breakthrough in the 20th century, the discovery has left a tremendous mark on science in multiple fields, including biology, pharmacology, genetics, and many more. However, the revolutionizing is still ongoing. The finding has paved the way for the future to be significantly impacted through molecular medicine. DNA continues to transform the world and its societies, and molecular medicine will leave an impact on human beings, as well as all living things, for the rest of humanity.

While the idea seems miniscule compared to some of the research and findings in the present, there were important effects that the discovery of DNA and its structure had on the world at the time. The first is learning that all of life on Earth contains the same fundamental basics for its creation. DNA, as proposed by Watson and Crick and verified years later through x-ray crystallography, is made up of double, interlaced spirals connected by base pairs that carry genetic information. It contains a code that stores biological data in the form of genes. Each rung of the “ladder” is made up of a pair of two of the four bases of nucleotides: Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Cytosine (C) and Guanine (G). An important item to note is that A will only pair with T, and C will only pair with G. This means that if all the paired rungs were broken and the ladder was s...

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...overed earlier and taken care of faster.

What began as a small discovery over sixty years ago has shaped our society in many unique ways. Discovering the structure for DNA has allowed mankind to eventually understand the microscopic molecules and functions that rule our entire lives. Now is the time to make the next step forward in humankind, and the future is extremely promising because completely understanding DNA may finally allow us to modify and control it the way we choose. Genetic disorders will be eliminated, populations will flourish, and much of the billions of dollars wasted each year on medical care on diseases that negatively affect hundreds of millions of people will be saved. Getting older will no longer mean suffering through horrible disorders and experimental treatments in a hospital bed but rather growing old in peace with your friends and family.