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For your consideration...the following is an excerpt from a radio spot on KAPL radio, Jacksonville, Oregon, called " Akin For the Truth". To listen to the entire spot (a few minutes long), click the little microphone icon....Jack

First described by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953, DNA is the famous molecule of genetics that establishes each organism's physical characteristics. In mid-2001 the Human Genome Project finally presented the true nature and complexity of the digital code inherent in DNA. We now understand that there are perhaps 35,000 or so genes in each human DNA molecule, comprised of approximately 3 billion chemical bases arranged in precise sequence. DNA is that popular, double-stranded molecule, twisted into a helix like a spiral staircase. Each strand is comprised of a sugar-phosphate backbone and numerous base chemicals attached in pairs. These stairs act as the "letters" in the genetic alphabet, combining into complex sequences to form the words, sentences and paragraphs that act as instructions to guide the formation and functioning of the host cell. Through recent technologies like x-ray crystallography, we now know that the cell is not a "blob of protoplasm", but rather a microscopic marvel that is more complex than the space shuttle.