Definition of GRAVAMEN: The burden or gist of a charge; the grievance or injury specially complained of.In English ecclesiastical law. A grievance complained of by the clergy befo The Law Dictionary Featuring Black's Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary 2nd Ed.
Phosphate and sugar make up the sides of a DNA ladder.
Even though the shape of DNA is often described as a ladder, it is not a straight ladder. It is twisted to the right, making the shape of the DNA molecule a right-handed double helix. This shape allows for a large amount of genetic information to be 'stuffed' into a very small space. In fact, if you lined up each molecule of DNA in one cell end to end, the strand would be six feet in length.