5 Humans have about 6 billion base pairs of DNA in every cel

5. Humans have about 6 billion base pairs of DNA in every cell. Based on the length of a base pair within double-stranded DNA, how many meters of DNA do we find in a human cell? Based on what you know about the length of a base pair of DNA, how many meters of DNA do we find in the human genome? 2 pts 1 m = 1000 mm; 1mm = 1000um; 1um = 1000 nm

Solution

The human genome comprises the information contained in one set of human chromosomes which themselves contain about 3 billion base pairs (bp) of DNA in 46 chromosomes (22 autosome pairs + 2 sex chromosomes). The total length of DNA present in one adult human is calculated by the multiplication of

               Length of 1 base pair(bp)               = 0.34 X 10^-9m

               Number of bp per cell                     = 6 X 10⁹

               Number of cells in the body          = 10¹³

               The total length of DNA                 = 2.0 X 10¹³ mts.

That is the equivalent of nearly 70 trips from the earth to the sun and back.

2.0 × 10¹³ meters = 133.69 astronomical units
133.691627/2 = 66.84 round trips to the sun

On the average, a single human chromosome consists of DNA Molecule that is 5 centimeters.