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Chemistry & Biology Genetic Code

How do we know the genetic code? (Part 6)

In the previous post in our series on the genetic code, we chronicled the adventures of a number of chemists, biologists, and even an epidemiologist as they battled their way to a fundamental truth about genes.  Spoiler alert for those who haven’t read it yet:  genes are made of DNA.  It seems like such a basic fact now; most middle-schoolers can recite it.  But keep in mind that nearly a century separates Friedrich Miescher’s discovery of DNA from the widespread acceptance of DNA as the genetic material.