what makes up the sides of a dna ladder

The sides of a DNA ladder are made of a repeating sugar‑phosphate backbone.

Quick Scoop

Imagine DNA as a twisted ladder (the famous double helix).

In that ladder:

• The “sides” or uprights are long chains of:
  • Deoxyribose sugar molecules
  • Phosphate groups
    linked together in a repeating sugar–phosphate–sugar–phosphate pattern.

• The “rungs” across the middle are pairs of nitrogen bases (A with T, C with G), but those are not part of the sides themselves.

So, when someone asks “what makes up the sides of a DNA ladder,” the precise answer is: the sugar‑phosphate backbone, built from alternating deoxyribose sugars and phosphate groups.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.