Elephants have a special quality that makes it hard for them to develop cancerous cells. Due to this elephants very rarely get cancer. This genetic information is stored in the chemical structure of DNA. The DNA is found in the nucleus of the elephant’s cells. The DNA is a nucleic acid that contains genetic information for organisms to be able to function and develop. DNA is makeup of a sugar and phosphate backbone and 4 bases of adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. The genes are the blueprints for a specific protein. This information is tightly wound into chromosomes.
This genetic information is translated within the system through cell division, then transcription and finally translation. The cells divide through mitosis, then those duplicated cells go through transcription where the DNA sequence of the gene is rewritten in the form of RNA, and it makes messenger RNA. Then that mRNA goes through translation where it is decoded to build a protein and contains a specific series of amino acids.
The genetic information for a system is passed on through the chromosomes that contain the genes that get passed down from parent to offspring. This happens when the genetic information is replicated before cell division then it is doubled. After sexual reproduction the parents pass down one set of the chromosomes containing the genetic information and therefore inherited by the offspring. This happens again from the offspring into the next generation and the genes persist over time.
African Elephants 