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. Atoms are depicted as spheres. The DNA molecule is made of two strands of atoms twisted into a helical shape. Each strand consists of an outer sugar-phosphate backbone (mauve), from which four types of nucleo- tide bases project (blue, yellow, red, green). The bases are paired in a complementary fashion, and this base-pairing forms the genetic code.