You’ve surely heard about DNA by now, perhaps in a Sci-Fi movie or on some science channel. Fact or fiction, Dna is a very important part of each of our cells; it lets us grow, change, and even make ourselves the way we are. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid is essentially a long chain of phosphates and sugars. Each part of the nucleotide stems off and retains a bit of coding, which when turned on, instructs the cell to produce proteins. These proteins in turn build up our bodies, and define things like the color of the pigment in our skin or even something more innate like the regulation of temperature and producing immune cells.

How can there be DNA in each of us, and yet we all are different? The answer lies in the order of bases and the genes they make up. Each little section of DNA contains a unique pattern of Base pairs, and they all make up different molecules of Proteins. Another thing that makes living things different is how many chromosomes are within them. Humans have 43 pairs of Chromosomes, where as some species, such as the common housefly, have as few as 12 pairs.