Anuska Sen, Team BioXone
Indeed, as said by American biotechnologist, Craig Venter, “Life is a DNA software system”. In simple terms, it can be said that DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) contains all the necessary instructions required for an organism to grow, divide, reproduce and even survive. It replicates to pass on genetic information and also provides instructions required for the synthesis of the proteins in an organism. In fact, American scientific writer, Sam Kean says that “Genes are like the story and DNA is the language that the story is written in”, which is undeniably true.
The National DNA Day is celebrated on the 25th of April each year, to mark two phenomenal discoveries down the years of science history – one, the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 (by James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and Rosalind Franklin) and the other, the declared almost completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) began commemorating this day annually on April 25th, after the 108th Congress passed concurrent resolutions entitling it as DNA Day. Since 2003, this day has been observed as a national holiday in the United States. However, it is also known as the “World DNA Day” or the “International DNA Day”. The main aim of celebrating DNA Day is to help students, bio-professionals, and the general public more aware of the ongoing researches and discoveries in genomics and other related emerging bioscience fields.
Every year the NHGRI encourages various individuals and organizations to conduct assorted events to celebrate National DNA Day. NHGRI even provides an online DNA Day Starter Kit for organizations who wish to host their own event on this day. For this, an option to Get activity ideas is available from the NHGRI itself. Other individuals who wish to attend events that are already being conducted near his/her location, can use the Find Events facility of NHGRI to locate the venue of the event.
Also read:World Malaria Day 2021- Let’s aim at “Reaching the Zero Malaria Target”
References:
- About DNA Day – The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) – https://www.genome.gov/dna-day/about
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