Back of the envelope extimation of the amount of DNA in a human
| Value | 30 g |
|---|---|
| Organism | Human Homo sapiens |
| Reference | Personal calculation by Ron Milo. Not published. See comments for derivation |
| Comments | We have about 10^13 cells in the body (BNID 102390). Each one has a genome of about 6*10^9 bases (BNID 101484). So 6*10^23 bases in total (I neglect DNA from mitochondria, bacteria etc). So about 1/10th of a mole. The molecular weight of a nucleotide is about 300 Da (BNID 100304). So I get about 30 g of DNA per person. As a fraction of the total mass: A person is about 70% water so a 100kg wet weight is about 30 kg dry weight. So DNA is about 1/1000 (0.1%) of the dry mass. |
| Entered by | Ron Milo - Admin |
| ID | 108402 |