A cell structure that contains nucleic acids, the chemical instructions that direct all the cell's activities is the ______.

A cell structure that contains nucleic acids, the chemical instructions that direct all the cell's activities is the ______.

• A. Ribosome
• B. Nucleus
• C. Golgi body
• D. Vacuole

Answer: (B)

Genetic material controls what a cell does by directing which proteins to make, so the structure that houses the DNA—the instructions for all activities—is the nucleus. In most cells, DNA is stored in the nucleus, which also begins the process of transcription to turn those instructions into mRNA that guides protein production. Other organelles like ribosomes, which mostly handle protein synthesis with RNA and proteins; the Golgi body, which packages and ships things; and the vacuole, which stores substances, don’t contain the genetic material itself. So the nucleus is the correct structure because it contains the nucleic acids that direct the cell’s activities.

Genetic material controls what a cell does by directing which proteins to make, so the structure that houses the DNA—the instructions for all activities—is the nucleus. In most cells, DNA is stored in the nucleus, which also begins the process of transcription to turn those instructions into mRNA that guides protein production. Other organelles like ribosomes, which mostly handle protein synthesis with RNA and proteins; the Golgi body, which packages and ships things; and the vacuole, which stores substances, don’t contain the genetic material itself. So the nucleus is the correct structure because it contains the nucleic acids that direct the cell’s activities.