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You have about 10 trillion cells in your body, so if you stretched the DNA in all the cells out, end to end, they'd stretch over 744 million miles. The moon is only about 250,000 miles away, so all your DNA would stretch to the moon and back alomst 1500 times. The sun is 93,000,000 miles away, so your DNA would reach there and back about 4 times!
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BlakeIt would 6 feet long or 2 meters
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If completely unraveled, human DNA would stretch from the Earth to the Moon.
If you stretch it and not unravel it, the distance is on average about 6 ft. (2 m) long, but is a very thin thread.
The single human chromosome on average consists of DNA molecules approximately 2 inches long.
The Physics Factbook [see link below] gives the formula of:
"The length is (length of 1 bp)(number of bp per cell) which is (0.34 nm)(6 × 109)"
A common citation for the length of DNA in our bodies is that one cell of DNA contains about 5 - 6 feet (2 meters) of DNA per cell. Estimates place the number of cells in our body at about 100 trillion in total. Not all of those cells contain DNA (blood cells do not, for example) so we can lower that number to perhaps 50 - 70 trillion DNA containing cells.
Let's take the lower estimate. 50 trillion x 6 ft = 300 trillion ft, or about 60 billion miles. Since the moon is 260,000 miles from us, then 60 billion / 260,000 = 218,000. In short, the DNA in one human body would stretch to the moon and back 109,000 times (at least).
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How long is a DNA molecule?
The length of a DNA molecule can vary depending on the organism. For example, the human genome is composed of approximately 3 billion base pairs, which, if stretched out end to end, would be about 6 feet long.
How long is DNA in a cell?
DNA is a polymer or nucleotides and so varies in length from organism to organism. In Eukaryotes the DNA is split onto many Chromosomes not just one. In Prokaryotes there are structures called Plasmids which also carry DNA. A very interesting note about how thin human DNA is compared to its length is that if you stretched it out and it was a thick as a pencil line it would reach from London to New York City. If you unraveled the DNA of all the humans on the planet, it would go from Earth to the nearest galaxy and back 60 TIMES!!! More: If completely unraveled, human DNA would stretch from the Earth to the Moon. If you stretch it and not unravel it, the distance is on average about 6 ft. (2 m) long, but is a very thin thread. The single human chromosome on average consists of DNA molecules approximately 2 inches long. The Physics Factbook [see link below] gives the formula of: "The length is (length of 1 bp)(number of bp per cell) which is: (0.34 nm)(6×109)"
How long is the DNA from a single mammal cell?
The DNA in a single mammal cell can vary in length based on the species, but on average, it is estimated to be about 6 feet long when stretched out. This DNA is tightly packaged into a compact structure within the cell's nucleus to fit the small space available.
What is the approximate length of the DNA strands?
Chromosomes vary in size, but the DNA would generally be a few cm (inches). The total length of one copy of all chromosomes is about 1 meter (a little over 3 feet). Since you have one copy from each parent, the total is about 2 meters per cell.
How much DNA is in the human body?
The human body contains approximately 6 feet of DNA if stretched out end-to-end. This DNA is packaged into 23 pairs of chromosomes found in nearly every cell of the body.
