Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid containing the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. The DNA segments carrying this genetic information are called genes. DNA consists of two long polymers of simple units called nucleotides. These two strands run in opposite directions to each other and are therefore anti-parallel, one backbone being 3' (three prime) and the other 5' (five prime) (the vertical part). Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called nucleobases (informally, bases)(the rungs). It is the sequence of these four nucleobases along the backbone that encodes information.
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