What Makes You You — DNA Basics
Inside almost every cell of your body is a special instruction code called DNA. It tells your body how to GROW, what to LOOK like (eye color, hair color), and how to WORK. You got HALF your DNA from your mom and HALF from your dad. That's why you look a little like both — but you're also UNIQUE.
DNA looks like a TWISTED LADDER (a "double helix"). The "rungs" of the ladder are made of four chemical letters: A, T, C, G. The order of these letters is your CODE — like a really long string of words. There are 3 BILLION letters in your DNA! Different sections (called GENES) tell your body how to make different things — proteins for muscles, chemicals for brain signals, and so on.
Where does your DNA come from?
Things your DNA decides include: hair color, eye color, height (mostly), some health risks, blood type. Things DNA does NOT decide: what you LIKE, what you LEARN, what you BELIEVE, your friends, your kindness. Your environment, choices, and experiences shape who you become — DNA is the recipe, but YOU bake the cake.
Family Resemblance
Look at photos of yourself and your family. Find features you share with parents (eye shape? smile?). Find features you don't. The mix is your DNA showing.
You are a unique mix of two parents' DNA, plus your own life experiences. Your DNA is amazing — but YOU are more than just DNA. You're what you do with it.
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