Does DNA have other tasks than making protein?

Answer

Dear Nelson,

DNA’s only job is to carry the information needed to build and keep living organisms alive. Indeed, it does so by disseminating, through the production of RNA, the information needed to build proteins.

However, DNA is a very complex molecule that not only carries the information about what that protein should look like, but also determines where, when and how much of that protein should be made. In addition, DNA also ensures that its own information is passed from mother to daughter cells and from generation to generation.

Regards,

Benjamin

PS. A nice recent application of DNA, which was completely developed by man and does not occur in nature, is DNA origami. This (nano) technique uses the fact that DNA forms very specific and strong double strands to make two- and three-dimensional objects. Typically these are about one ten-thousandth of a millimeter in size… You can find some information about them on the internet.