As the common adage goes, “A person’s life hangs by a thread.” But it would be more accurate to say that our life hangs by DNA threads. And, to be precise, humans have 46 DNA threads.

DNA is the abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid. It is the stuff from which genes are made, because this substance stores the “book of life”, the hereditary information.

Simply, we can think of DNA as a string of 3.2 billion gene letters, in which the sequence of letters follows a precise order. To be exact, it is a bit more complex since actually the DNA consists of two single strands that have connected themselves to each other and that twist like a rope ladder. Scientists use the term double-strand. The two outermost strands of the rope-ladder-shaped DNA are alternately made up of a sugar and of a phosphoric acid. The rope-ladder’s rungs are made up of four different chemical substances (bases). These bases are labeled

(1.)            A = Adenine
(2.)            T = Thymine
(3.)            C = Cytosine
(4.)            G = Guanine

If we think of the genetic information as a text, the bases correspond to the letters of the genetic text.

Two of these “base letters”, respectively, are always located opposite each other, and together form a rung of the rope-ladder-shaped double strand. Scientists call this a base pair. It is always A and T or C and G which form a pair.

Encrypted in the configuration of these bases are the blueprints for the cell’s components. The sequence of three bases each (e.g. AGT) forms a code word. If these codes are decrypted, it becomes clear that each three-letter word stands for one of a total of 20 amino acids, which are the components of proteins.