Question

If DNA is placed from end to end to reach the moon from the earth, how many base-pairs are required in doing so?

Note: Distance between Earth and Moon is 38,4400 Km.

• A. $1.13\times {10}^{18}$ base pairs
• B. $2.23\times {10}^{18}$ base pairs
• C. $8.13\times {10}^{18}$ base pairs
• D. $6.13\times {10}^{18}$ base pairs

Answer 1

The correct option is A $1.13\times {10}^{18}$ base pairs

Distance between two consecutive base pairs in a DNA is 0.34nm or $0.34\times {10}^{-9}m$.
Given that distance between Earth and Moon is 38,4400 Km.
The number of nucleotides required to cover this distance is $(384400\times 1000m)÷(0.34\times {10}^{-9}m)$
$=1.13\times {10}^{18}$ base pairs.