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DNA structure
Image: Fritz Goro/Pond5 Images/IMAGOImage: Fritz Goro/Pond5 Images/IMAGO

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

It's said that DNA makes us who and what we are. More specifically, DNA is a sequence of genes which provides instructions, or code, that allow us to produce proteins, which are essential to the way we function and live.

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All Content on this topic

DNA Modell, Genetik

New law about DNA analysis in Germany

What can DNA tell us about what an unknown perpetrator looks like? A whole lot, but only if the law allows it. Germany has some of the strictest legislation with regard to how DNA analysis can be used. Why? DW talks to Peter Schneider, the head of Germany's Spurenkommission, an umbrella group of the country's leading forensic institutions.
ScienceDecember 20, 201607:48 min
DNA Gentechnik

The dangers of DNA analysis

Germany is on the verge of expanding the use of DNA analysis in criminal investigations.
ScienceDecember 20, 201630:00 min
Stills Fit&Gesund Genschere

Is there a cure for HIV infection?

Currently, it is impossible to reverse an HIV infection. Researchers are hoping to change that.
ScienceDecember 1, 201601:01 min
Fischschwarm Cabo Pulmo National Park

How to count all the fish in the sea

Scientists believe new DNA analysis could make the process of counting fish stocks a whole lot easier.
ScienceNovember 16, 2016
Belgien Liege Krankenhaus-Roboter namens Pepper

Spectrum: November 8, 2016

On this week's program, we're going to take a look at how robotics are helping paraplegics to walk again
ScienceNovember 8, 201630:00 min
Symbolbild Grundsatzurteil USA zur Patentierung menschlichen Erbguts

Smoking leaves 'signatures' far from lungs

Scientists now know more about the effects of smoking on genes, including DNA in organs far from the tobacco smoke.
ScienceNovember 3, 2016
Bento Lab

Why a mobile DNA lab is not just for Christmas

Bento Lab is DNA analysis and education in one. Co-founder Bethan Wolfenden says we all need to understand genetics.
ScienceOctober 24, 2016
Deutschland Absperrband der Polizei bei Rodacherbrunn Fall Peggy

How does DNA profiling help solve crimes?

German experts have found DNA traces from an alleged neo-Nazi terrorist at an unlikely crime scene.
CrimeOctober 14, 2016
Image of in-vitro fertilization

Does it matter where your DNA comes from?

The Mexico three-parent baby has renewed scientific and ethical concerns about our meddling with DNA. Does it matter?
ScienceSeptember 29, 2016
Babyfuß

World's first 'three-parent' baby born

Doctors had used a new method combining DNA from three people to prevent the baby from inheriting a fatal disease.
ScienceSeptember 27, 2016
14.07.2016 Projekt Zukunft PZU Mord

Microbes prove murder

How analysing microbes in soil samples can help solve crimes.
ScienceJuly 17, 201606:36 min
Symbolic image of scientific progress.

Spectrum: On their own

Weapons that think for themselves, encryption technologies blamed for Paris attacks, DNA blood tests for Down syndrome.
ScienceNovember 20, 201529:59 min
A mother with her child

DNA blood tests for Down syndrome in Germany

Kait Bolongaro talks to a couple who learned during their pregnancy that their child would have Down syndrome.
ScienceNovember 20, 201506:07 min
Cosmic probe

Space is risky

Czech scientists want to know more about cosmic radiation and how it affects astronauts and pilots. They have launched a probe with a specially developed nanobiosensor, designed to test the effects of cosmic radiation on DNA.
ScienceNovember 3, 201406:08 min
An engineer

Spectrum: battle for proton therapy

We follow Ashya King's battle for proton therapy in Prague and ask: will it help? We hear from Sir Alec Jeffreys, 30 years after he discovered DNA fingerprinting. And we're in Istanbul for the Internet Governance Forum.
ScienceSeptember 8, 201429:59 min
Crime scene

Eureka! DNA Fingerprinting is 30!

It is 30 years since Sir Alec Jeffreys discovered DNA Fingerprinting. It has revolutionized crime investigations, often helping to establish guilt or innocence in many cases. But three decades on, are we guilty of relying on DNA too much?
ScienceSeptember 8, 201408:47 min
Michael Morton

DNA Fingerprinting case study

Sir Alec Jeffreys cites 50 million untold stories because of his discovery. One might be that of Michael Morton. Jailed for the murder of his wife, Morton served 25 years before being exonerated thanks to DNA evidence. His is a case study in science.
ScienceSeptember 8, 201406:20 min

Lining up your genes

We've touched on citizen science before and now we're back with more. But this time we're heading into slightly more difficult terrain…genetics…At McGill University, in Montreal, Canada, where researchers have developed a game called Phylo.
ScienceMay 26, 201405:10 min
Symbolbild Medizin Junge Ärtztin

Tracking rare disease

The structure of DNA - life's universal source code - was discovered sixty years ago. Today, we speak of the human genome, and how it's expressed - for good or ill. But we're struggling to conquer unknown diseases linked to our DNA.
ScienceApril 17, 201408:26 min

Innovative vaccines technology

The EU has awarded its first ever, 2 million euro innovation inducement prize to German biopharmaceutical company, CureVac. CureVac's Dr Ingmar Hoerr tells us why the temperature stable RNA molecule is great for vaccines delivery in Africa and Asia.
ScienceMarch 17, 201406:14 min

Library of Life - DNA barcodes for the earth's species

An international consortium of scientists is pushing for a database of all the earth's species. They are using DNA barcodes, designed to make the identification of species faster and more accurate than ever before.
ScienceNovember 26, 201204:12 min

Mapping banana DNA

French researchers have sequenced the DNA of a banana. CIRAD's Angélique D'Hont says it's an important step towards understanding the genetics of the crop and strengthening varieties against fungus and pests - but it's not genetic modification!
ScienceJuly 30, 201205:43 min

Scientists sequence fetus DNA

US scientists at Washington University say they have sequenced the DNA of a human fetus, using a non-invasive method. One of the researchers and associate professor, Dr Jay Shendure, says it will help them get a more precise reading of 3,000 single-gene disorders, including cystic fibrosis and a form of Alzheimer's disease.
ScienceJune 11, 201205:26 min

Computers of the future - At work everywhere

Scientists at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence are working to develop the computer of the future. The computers of tomorrow will need to be perceptive, since they will help us in many aspects of daily life.
ScienceDecember 12, 201105:51 min