The cellular component responsible for transmission of traits and control of cell function was long assumed to be proteins. Discuss the characteristics of proteins and DNA that made protein initially seem the more likely candidate, and outline the seminal studies that implicated DNA as the molecule of heredity and determination of trait.

The traits of a living thing depend on the complex mixture of interacting components inside it. Proteins do much of the chemical work inside cells, so they largely determine what those traits are. But those proteins owe their existence to the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), so that is where we must look for the answer.

The easiest way to understand how DNA is organized is to start with its basic building blocks. DNA consists of four different sugars that interact with each other in specific ways. These four sugars are called nucleotide bases and have the names adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) and guanine (G). Think of these four bases as letters in an alphabet, the alphabet of life!