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===Genes make proteins===
{{main|Genetic code}}
The function of genes is to provide the information needed to make molecules called [[protein]]s in cells.<ref name=Utah>{{Cite book| title =University of Utah Genetics Learning Center animated tour of the basics of genetics| publisher =Howstuffworks.com| url =http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/basics/tour| access-date =2008-01-24| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080210023634/http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/basics/tour/| archive-date =10 February 2008| df =dmy-all}}</ref> Cells are the smallest independent parts of organisms: the human body contains about 100 trillion cells, while very small organisms like [[bacteria]] are just a single cell. A cell is like a miniature and very complex factory that can make all the parts needed to produce a copy of itself, which happens when cells [[cell division|divide]]. There is a simple division of labor in cells—genes give instructions and proteins carry out these instructions, tasks like building a new copy of a cell, or repairing the damage.<ref name=NIGMS>[http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/structlife/chapter1.html The Structures of Life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607084902/http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/structlife/chapter1.html |date=7 June 2014 }} National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Accessed 20 May 2008</ref> Each type of protein is a specialist that only does one job, so if a cell needs to do something new, it must make a new protein to do this job. Similarly, if a cell needs to do something faster or slower than before, it makes more or less of the protein responsible. Genes tell cells what to do by telling them which proteins to make and in what amounts.
[[File:Genetic code.svg|thumb|right|280px|Genes are expressed by being [[transcription (genetics)|transcribed]] into RNA, and this RNA then [[protein biosynthesis|translated]] into protein.]]
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