DNA molecule. Computer graphic representing a segment of the molecule Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). This is the more common beta form of DNA in that the spiral winds clockwise when viewed from above. DNA contains all the inherited instructions necessary to produce a living organism. The DNA molecule is made of two strands of atoms twisted into a helical shape (blue) forming an outer sugar-phosphate backbone. Nucleotide bases (pink, green, orange) project from this backbone and are paired in a complementary fashion: cytosine with guanine, and thymine with adenine. It is this base-pairing that forms the genetic code in DNA in the form of genes.