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Asked by 758furk43 to Joanne, Chris, Kathryn, Kieran, Sarah on 8 Nov 2017.
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Kathryn Schoenrock answered on 8 Nov 2017:
Every species has a unique DNA code, arrangement of the DNA, and way of combining DNA. But all DNA has the same basic components: a sugar, a phosphate, and a nucleic acid G,A,T, or C (guanine, adenine, thymine, and cytosine).
If you look at our genome (the genetic material of an organism or individual) it is very similar to other mammals. There is a great human genome project going on in the US, and elsewhere. Here is a link:
Plant genomes are a bit different, but not much. If you think about the enzymes, the way cells use sugar and more, all organisms are doing very similar things. I think that humans have share 60% of their genes with a banana plant!
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Chris Werner answered on 9 Nov 2017:
Couldn’t have put it much better than Kathryn! All DNA has that double helix ladder shape. The difference is the way the nucleotides (the things which make up DNA) are arranged, and the information they encode which is the real difference.
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Joanne Duffy answered on 13 Nov 2017:
The DNA is all the same, as Kathryn says, the same components. Every three letters in the genetic code produces one amino acid. Sometimes an amino acid is produced by lots of combinations of three letters, but an E. coli cell will prefer a particular arrangement of three letters than say, a plant. Also, you have two copies of all of your genetic information; that’s called diploid. But plants can have lots and lots of full copies, up to 7! Triploids (which have three copies of their genomes) tend to be sterile, and scientists sometimes deliberately breed triploids to make seedless grapes for example.
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