1. The role of DNA is extremely important as it carries genetic information related to basic processes for organisms. Therefore, DNA has to be stable. In general, its stability becomes possible due to a large number of hydrogen bonds which make DNA strands more stable (Bugaut & Alberti, 2015). Apart from that, its shape (a double spiral) also minimizes the risk of damage to DNA.
2. Considering that 5’-ATTCGACC-3’ is the DNA sequence, the sequence of the complementary strand would be GCCTAGTT because of nitrogenous bases such as guanine with adenine and thymine with cytosine form complementary pairs.
3. If we take into account that 30 percent of the bases of DNA in a new species of bacteria is presented by adenine, it means that there is 20 percent of cytosine in the DNA of this organism.
4. About the way that chromosomes are formed, it needs to be said that it happens due to the interaction of four nitrogenous bases such as adenine, cytosine, thymine, and guanine which are paired by the specific rule (A+G and T+C). Chromosomes are formed gradually; there are five stages of this process.
5. Speaking of the proteins and enzymes which take an active part in the process of DNA replication, it is possible to single out such groups of proteins and enzymes as initiator proteins encouraging the start of the replication, SSB-proteins which stabilize the single-stranded parts of DNA, topoisomerases which facilitate DNA unwinding, three types of polymerizing ferments encouraging aging of the replicated DNA, and enzymes which help to finish the replication process such as DNA ligase and telomerase (Nowak, Olszewski, Śpibida, & Kur, 2014).
6. As for its primary structure, DNA has leading and lagging strands which help to synthesize the new information in different ways; thus, the leading strand conducts the synthesis without any delays, and the synthesis has the same direction with the replicative fork. As for the lagging strand of DNA, it replicates the information with a certain time lag, using the direction which is opposite to the movement of the replicative fork. More than that, the lagging strand of the DNA is replicated in short fragments.
7. It is known that viruses can have RNA in their genetic structure, and it can be beneficial for them because RNA is believed to be weaker when it comes to structural changes (Turner et al., 2015). Thus, it is common knowledge that RNA is a structure that is more susceptible to mutations than DNA which is used in the majority of organisms living on the planet. Considering that the primary role of viruses is related to weakening other organisms, the changeability of RNA and its ability to reflect the external changes make viruses more revivable. As for DNA, considering that its structure is rather stable, it would be a better genetic material for the majority of living organisms.
8. As is clear from the question, there could be discussions about the possibility to genetically engineer living Neanderthals, knowing the structure of their genome. Despite that, certain ethical issues are arising from this idea. To begin with, if it was possible to create a Neanderthal, the creature would be a human deserving to be given all the basic rights. At the same time, all people are supposed to give their permission to be studied by scientists which means that this Neanderthal would be a person whose rights were violated (Berry, 2013).
References
Berry, R. M. (2013). The ethics of genetic engineering. New York, NY: Routledge.
Bugaut, A., & Alberti, P. (2015). Understanding the stability of DNA G-quadruplex units in long human telomeric strands. Biochimie, 113(1), 125-133.
Nowak, M., Olszewski, M., Śpibida, M., & Kur, J. (2014). Characterization of single-stranded DNA-binding proteins from the psychrophilic bacteria Desulfotalea psychrophila, Flavobacterium psychrophilum, Psychrobacter arcticus, Psychrobacter cryohalolentis, Psychromonas ingrahamii, Psychroflexus torquis, and Photobacterium profundum. BMC Microbiology, 14(1), 91.
Turner, A. J., Aggarwal, P., Miller, H. E., Waukau, J., Routes, J. M., Broeckel, U., & Robinson, R. T. (2015). The introduction of RNA-DNA differences underlies interindividual variation in the human IL12RB1 mRNA repertoire. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(50), 15414-15419.