Double-stranded DNA consists of two polynucleotides that are arranged such that the nitrogenous bases within one polynucleotide ... Beyond the ladder-like structure described above, another ...

Scientists still needed to figure out this molecule's structure to be sure ... Erwin Chargaff found that the arrangement of nitrogen bases in DNA varied widely, but the amount of certain bases ...

DNA is fundamental to the biology of all life on Earth, but how many of us actually know what it is or what it's made of?

Many people believe that American biologist James Watson and English physicist Francis Crick discovered DNA in the 1950s ... of just one of four nitrogen-containing bases, a sugar molecule ...

This discovery, along with the identification of other nitrogenous bases, laid the foundation for our understanding of DNA and RNA structure. Cytosine can be synthesized chemically or isolated from ...

nitrogen, and phosphorus. Combinations of these atoms form the sugar-phosphate backbone of the DNA -- the sides of the ladder, in other words. Other combinations of the atoms form the four bases ...

and one of four nitrogenous bases: adenine (A), uracil (U), guanine (G), or cytosine (C). RNA is similar to DNA but contains uracil instead of thymine (T) and has a single-stranded structure.