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Abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid. Composed of very long strings of nucleotide monomers. This is the storage form of our genetic material. All of the instructions for the production of our proteins is encoded in our DNA. Genes are comprised of short stretches of DNA. Our DNA is arranged into chromosomes. There are about 6 billion nucleotide pairs in the DNA of a single cell. Changes to the nucleotide sequence of the DNA are called mutations. Many chemotherapy agents work by altering the structure of DNA. These changes disable the cells and prevent them from dividing.

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