What is the genetic material found in all living organisms?

The genetic material found in all living organisms is DNA. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, serves as the blueprint for the development, functioning, growth, and reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses. It carries the hereditary information necessary for the transfer of traits across generations and is composed of sequences of nucleotides, which are structured into genes.

While RNA (ribonucleic acid) plays vital roles in various biological processes, such as coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes, it is not the primary genetic material in living organisms. Proteins, though essential for many cellular functions, are products of gene expression and do not serve as genetic material themselves. Lastly, chromosomes are structures that organize DNA within the cell nucleus in eukaryotes or the nucleoid in prokaryotes. While chromosomes contain the DNA, they are not the genetic material in the same sense that DNA itself is. Therefore, DNA is unequivocally recognized as the genetic material universally present across all forms of life.