MadSci Network: Molecular Biology |
You have almost given the answer, you just need to multiply the figures....though the missing ingredient is the length of a single base pair, which is approximately 0.34 nm. Also, I personally feel that the 10E14 is a bit high, I tend to go with an order of magnitude lower, namely 10E13.There are are varying values for the figures you have quoted, but going with them we can calculate the following: (length of 1 bp) x (no. of bp per cell) x (approx. no. of cells in the body) = (0.34 x 10E-9 m)(6.4 x 10E9)(10E13) = 2.18 x 10E13 m I won't do the cliché thing and say that this is X number of times to the sun or moon etc. You can find some interesting distances to give the measurement perspective. N.B. In case you're unaware, 10E13 is alternative nomenclature for 10 to the power of 13. Hope that helps...
Jim Caryl |
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