User:Kgrodzki/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
I am evaluating the Wikipedia article on DNA. It can be found at this link: DNA

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I have chosen to evaluate this article as we have heavily covered the study of deoxyribonucleic acid in Biochemistry lecture class. I feel as though I know enough information about it to be able to describe what it is and what it does to someone who may not have the same education level as me. DNA is an essentially to our daily lives and is essentially what makes all of us unique and different individuals. It is important to understand DNA, even on a broad, basic level, to understand how everyone's genetic makeup differs. Initially, I was not surprised by how long the article is, given that there has been extensive research and findings regarding DNA. I also like how there is a link to an alternative article that gives a less extensive, or "non-technical" description of DNA. I also like how there are various images and animations, portraying 2-D and 3-D views of DNA.

Evaluate the article
The first paragraph has a good description of what DNA generally is. It does go into depth, without highlighting any specific definitions of some words that are critical to understands the technicalities of DNA. There are, however, links attached to these words, that will take one to the Wikipedia site for those specific words, allowing for further understanding on the topic. The second paragraph goes in more detail of the specific monomers of DNA. While the definition is helpful, I think including a photo of a nucleic acid monomer for DNA would be helpful in visualizing the different numbered carbons on the deoxyribose sugar and how the nitrogenous bases can vary. On that same note, it would be helpful in showing a drawing or visual description of the phospho-diester linkages between the bases. Asides from that, I find the lead to be engaging and has just enough information to convey a broad understanding of what DNA is and what it is capable of doing and assisting in.

Under the "properties" tab, I think it would be helpful in showing a DNA molecule with the various physical properties shown on a drawing, such as the measurements, pitch, etc. While the authors do include the different forms of DNA (A, B, Z) I think it is important to mention earlier that the main DNA is the B-DNA. This is an important distinction to make.

Everything mentioned in this article is relevant to DNA. The article starts off broadly, but dives into extreme details, that may not be fit for everyone. However, the basics are understandable. That being said, the article is written in a clear and concise language. Additionally, the tone of the article is neutral, as there is no disagreements in many of the findings here. It is strictly stating factual information that has been proven true. All the information is up to date and the history of how all this was discovered is detailedly outlined in the "history" tab.

Clicking around the references tab, all references clicked on have links that lead to where the information incorporated into this article was gathered from. That being said, I trust that the other resources not clicked on are also credible to useful studies and reviews. In order to add information to this article, one must request permission, as most of the information in this article is standard and well supported. In the talk page, there is talk on acidity, Szostakianism, and a new update comment on the double helical property of DNA, although this new comment clearly has not been cleared to make it to the article.

Overall, the article has a clean look to it and is filled with credible information.