DNA full form: Deoxyribonucleic Acid

How to say it: letter by letter.

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid. It is the long molecule, found in the cells of every living thing, that carries the instructions for building and running the body and passes them from parents to children.

Taking the name apart

• Deoxyribo: the sugar in the molecule is deoxyribose, a ribose sugar with one oxygen atom fewer.
• Nucleic: it was first found in the nucleus of cells.
• Acid: chemically it is an acid.

What it looks like

A DNA molecule is shaped like a twisted ladder, called a double helix. The sides of the ladder are made of sugar and phosphate. The rungs are pairs of four chemical bases: adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine, written A, T, G and C. A always pairs with T, and G with C. The order of these bases along the molecule is the code. This structure was worked out in 1953 by James Watson and Francis Crick, using X-ray pictures taken by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.

Genes and chromosomes

A gene is a stretch of DNA that carries the instruction for one job, usually making one protein. DNA is packed into bodies called chromosomes; human cells have 46, in 23 pairs, one of each pair from each parent.

DNA in everyday news

Apart from identical twins, no two people have the same DNA. A "DNA test" compares patterns in DNA samples, and is used to identify people, to settle questions of parentage and in criminal investigation.

DNA and RNA

RNA, ribonucleic acid, is a related molecule. It is usually single-stranded, uses the sugar ribose, and has the base uracil in place of thymine. In the cell, RNA carries copies of the DNA code to where proteins are made.

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Check what matters. These pages explain names and terms in general. Rules, dates, fees and limits change: take them from the official body. Read on 12 November 2026.