Even though you’re minuscule, <br />we call you a macromolecule. <br />The brainchild of Watson and Crick, <br />you make our biological clocks tick. <br /> <br />Being a double helix, you deserve a lot of attention <br />and you hold plenty of genetic information; <br />though at times you carry misinformation <br />which is when we say you have undergone mutation. <br /> <br />With a sugar-phosphate backbone on the outside <br />and many pairs of nitrogenous bases inside <br />where A bonds with T and C bonds with G, <br />you are truly packed with a lot of energy. <br /> <br />You hold the key to the destiny <br />of every little cell inside me. <br />You make us mortals grow, you let us repair <br />and you enable propagation of species everywhere. <br /> <br />You are often misused by genetic engineers; <br />yet you offer a new lease of life to many others. <br />You hold the blueprint for all protein, <br />You’re truly Mr. Monk’s hero in a crime scene. <br /> <br />02 June 2010 <br />3 pm <br /> <br />This is a small attempt on my part to highlight some of the important properties of deoxyribonucleic acid – commonly called DNA that is the biochemical basis of all life. I have tried my best to keep it as simple as possible. A, T, C and G are the nitrogenous bases found in DNA and they are adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine, respectively. <br /> <br />My inspiration to write this came after I watched a popular crime serial called ‘Monk’ on the television recently. Mr. Monk plays the detective in it and he is the person I am referring to in the concluding line of this poem.<br /><br />Gita Ashok<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-ode-to-dna/
