Final answer:
The characteristics of an organism are determined by the arrangement of the four types of nitrogen bases in the genes, which encode amino acids that form proteins. This genetic information flows from DNA to RNA and then to proteins, which are essential for cellular functions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The coded instructions for specifying the characteristics of an organism are directly determined by the arrangement of the four types of nitrogen bases in the genes. These four nucleotides—cytosine (C), thymine (T), adenine (A), and guanine (G)—are the building blocks of DNA and serve as the blueprint for making proteins. The sequence of these bases encodes the genetic information, where each group of three nucleotide bases, known as a codon, corresponds to one amino acid in a protein. This is how cells translate the DNA code into functional proteins, with each protein having a unique sequence of amino acids determining its structure and function.
The genetic code represents the rules by which information encoded in the nucleic acid sequence is translated into proteins, the workhorses of the cell. The central dogma of biology describes the process of how genetic information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins, illustrating the vital role of DNA in determining an organism's inherited traits.