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How Big Is a DNA Molecule?

A DNA molecule is about 2 nm wide. That is about 855 million times smaller than the average man. The molecule that carries genetic instructions.

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How big is a DNA molecule compared to the average man?

A DNA molecule is about 855 million times smaller than the average man. The average man is 855 million× the size of a DNA molecule: about 855 million dna double helix (width)s stacked up would match it.

DNA Double Helix (Width) size facts

The DNA double helix is about 2 nanometers wide.
Stretched out, the DNA in one human cell would be about 2 meters long.

How does a DNA molecule compare to other things?

A DNA molecule next to 25 things of similar size, plus some everyday references:

Thing	Size	Compared to DNA double helix (width)
Sun	865,000 miles (1,393,000 km) across	696 quadrillion× bigger
Earth	7,920 miles (12,740 km) across	6.37 quadrillion× bigger
Mount Everest	5.5 miles (8.849 km)	4.42 trillion× bigger
Eiffel Tower	1,083 ft (330 m)	165 billion× bigger
School bus	40 ft (12.2 m) long	6.1 billion× bigger
Average man (world)	5 ft 7 in (171 cm)	855 million× bigger
Average woman (world)	5 ft 3 in (159 cm)	795 million× bigger
Tennis ball	2.6 in (6.7 cm) across	33.5 million× bigger
Wolf spider	2.4 in (6 cm) long	30 million× bigger
Bee hummingbird	2.2 in (5.5 cm) long	27.5 million× bigger
Golf ball	1.7 in (4.27 cm) across	21.4 million× bigger
US quarter	0.96 in (2.43 cm) across	12.1 million× bigger
Honeybee	0.59 in (1.5 cm) long	7.5 million× bigger
Ladybug	0.28 in (7 mm) long	3.5 million× bigger
Grain of rice	0.26 in (6.5 mm) long	3.25 million× bigger
Ant	0.16 in (4 mm) long	2 million× bigger
Flea	0.098 in (2.5 mm) long	1.25 million× bigger
Mustard seed	0.059 in (1.5 mm) across	750,000× bigger
Grain of sand	0.02 in (500 µm) long	250,000× bigger
Dust mite	0.012 in (300 µm) long	150,000× bigger
Human hair (width)	70 µm across	35,000× bigger
Red blood cell	7.5 µm across	3,750× bigger
E. coli bacterium	2 µm long	1,000× bigger
Virus	100 nm across	50× bigger
Hydrogen atom	106 pm across	18.9× smaller

Where do these numbers come from?

Sizes are typical adult or reported values, rounded for readability. Read how we measure and compare sizes.