Deoxyribonucleic acid
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Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is an organic chemical compound made up of molecules shaped like a double helix, a continuously twisted ladder. The individual monomeric building blocks of DNA (and other nucleic acids) are nucleotides, which themselves consist of three principle moieties: A nitrogenous base, a sugar, and a phosphate group.
DNA carries the genetic coding for the proteins that form the bodies of living organisms. All organisms contain DNA, and the DNA of a sexually reproducing organism is a mix of its parents' DNA.