Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the genetic material of all cellular organisms and most viruses. This genetic material carries the information needed to drive protein synthesis and replication.
Protein synthesis is nothing more than the production of proteins that cells and viruses need for metabolism and development. Replication is the set of reactions whereby DNA makes a copy of itself each time a cell divides and transmits its information to daughter cells. In almost all cellular organisms DNA is organized in the form of chromosomes located in the cell nucleus. DNA is found in the chromosomes of our cells and in our mitochondria.
In the cell, the nucleus serves as the cell's command center, sending indications for the cell to grow, mature, divide, or die. It also contains DNA, the hereditary material of the cell. The nucleus is surrounded by a membrane called the nuclear envelope, which protects the DNA and separates the nucleus from the rest of the cell.
