Chargaff's rule is the observation that the percentages of complementary nitrogen bases are almost equal. What is this commonly called?

Chargaff's rule is the observation that the percentages of complementary nitrogen bases are almost equal. What is this commonly called?

• A. Base pairing rules
• B. Genetic code
• C. Central dogma
• D. Transcription

Answer: (A)

Base pairing rules explain why the percentages of complementary nitrogen bases are almost equal. In double-stranded DNA, adenine pairs with thymine and cytosine pairs with guanine, so A ≈ T and C ≈ G. This complementary pairing creates the uniform, two-stranded structure of the DNA double helix and underpins accurate replication because each strand can serve as a template. This concept is distinct from the genetic code (which links codons to amino acids), the central dogma (the flow of genetic information), and transcription (making RNA from DNA).

Base pairing rules explain why the percentages of complementary nitrogen bases are almost equal. In double-stranded DNA, adenine pairs with thymine and cytosine pairs with guanine, so A ≈ T and C ≈ G. This complementary pairing creates the uniform, two-stranded structure of the DNA double helix and underpins accurate replication because each strand can serve as a template. This concept is distinct from the genetic code (which links codons to amino acids), the central dogma (the flow of genetic information), and transcription (making RNA from DNA).