DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid, better known as DNA, holds within its double-helix geometry the secret to our existence. A fairly simple compound made of four principle amino acids; it constitutes the most basic unit of life and the plan from which our bodies take their forms. It is self-replicating, can carry thousands of years of information within its strands and is unique from one individual to the next. It carries with it the ghosts of our ancestors, the future of our progeny and the possibility of unlocking some of the most vast and reality-changing science one can imagine.
DNA was first discovered in the late 1800's, in the pus and discharge left in surgical bandages. Scientists and physicians understood little of what they'd discovered at the time other than it was contained in the nucleus of the cell. Understanding of DNA increased throughout the early 20th century and, in 1953, Rosaline Franklin took the first image of the molecule using x-ray technology. This revealed to the world the incredible complexity of the structure and the double-helix design with which the world is so familiar now. It wasn't until the late 1950's that scientists started to understand the relationship between DNA and heredity to the extent that is now known.
Today, the application of technology allows DNA to be studied in great detail. Individuals can be identified by samples, with over 99% accuracy, which has resulted in both convictions and exonerations in the justice system. Understanding of Deoxyribonucleic acid has greatly helped progress in the battle against cancer. In fact, it is from damage to the DNA by environmental factors such as radiation, ultraviolet light and certain chemicals that cancers often occur. Gene therapy is a field of medicine that is only beginning to evolve that uses manipulation of very small structures such as the double helix to prevent and cure diseases.
In fiction, DNA technology is often used as the antagonist, just as nuclear technology was in the 1950's and 1960's. Where nuclear testing used to be the cause of every giant ant, ornery and many-stories-tall lizard and turtle that plagued Tokyo and every hero's superpower, genetics are now usually the movie culprit. These portrayals, of course, are every bit as inaccurate and unscientific as were the portrayals of nuclear technology from those early B-movies. It cannot be denied, however, that the understanding of this basic element of life contains incredible real-life implications for everyone.
