DNA is fundamental to the biology of all life on Earth, but how many of us actually know what it is or what it's made of?

The structure of nucleic acid A nucleotide is made up of three parts that are attached by bonds. The three parts are a phosphate group, a 5-carbon sugar, and a nitrogen base.

Co-polymerization of glycol nucleic acid monomers with dicarboxylic acids in simulated early Earth drying environments readily gives rise to plausible prebiotic xeno nucleic acid co-polymers ...

Molecules of DNA, one of life’s two types of nucleic acid, are far longer still. The shortest DNA molecules found in humans are about 17,000 nucleotides long; the longest consist of over 100m.