Question
Question: What is the importance of copying of DNA during reproduction?...
What is the importance of copying of DNA during reproduction?
Solution
DNA contains information that encodes for a protein required by the individual and inheritance from parents to offspring. Its main importance is related to the transfer of a certain type of information.
Complete answer:
DNA is the genetic material and it replicates during reproduction to produce an identical double-stranded DNA molecule. Before a cell divides the DNA must replicate and make an exact copy of itself, so the new cells have the right amount of chromosome. Each new cell must have the same chromosome number and the same DNA as the parent cell to function properly. If DNA is not copied during reproduction, the functional protein will not be formed.
Additional Information:
-DNA replication is possible because the molecule is a double helix and because the nitrogenous bases only pair are complementary.
-Replication occurs in three main steps-
Step I - DNA unzips
An enzyme unzips the molecule by breaking down the hydrogen bonds that hold the nitrogen bases together.
Step II- Base pairing
Complementary bases match with each base in the original DNA strand.
Adenosine binds with thymine and guanine bonds with cytosine.
StepIII- Two identical DNA molecule
-Two new DNA molecules each have the same DNA nitrogen base sequence. The new DNA molecule is exactly like the original.
Note:
-Deoxyribonucleic acid is the universal blueprint for life on the earth.
-DNA determines how organisms look and function.
-DNA is copied during the S or synthesis phase of interphase.