How DNA's double helix structure was discovered
How DNA's double helix structure was discovered
The animated structure of a DNA molecule. Deoxyribose sugar molecules and phosphate molecules form the outer edges of the DNA double helix, and base pairs bind the two strands to one another.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Transcript
The structure of DNA is a double-helix polymer, a spiral consisting of two DNA strands twisted around each other. James Watson and Francis Crick determined this structure in 1953, building upon almost a century's worth of research from the scientific community. Their work was influenced in particular by two developments: first, the conclusion in the 1920s that DNA was made up of four nitrogenous bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine; second, the discovery in 1950 that pairs of these bases—which form the subunits, or nucleotides, of DNA strands—occur in equal amounts.
Each nucleotide consists of a deoxyribonucleic sugar molecule attached to a phosphate group and one of the four bases. Adenine always links to thymine by two hydrogen bonds, and guanine always joins to cytosine by three.
Watson and Crick built stick-and-ball models of DNA to test their theories about its composition. An X-ray photograph of DNA produced by Rosalind Franklin helped them to realize its double-helix structure. The two strands of DNA bond together by the base pairs and twist around each other like a spiraling ladder.
Each nucleotide consists of a deoxyribonucleic sugar molecule attached to a phosphate group and one of the four bases. Adenine always links to thymine by two hydrogen bonds, and guanine always joins to cytosine by three.
Watson and Crick built stick-and-ball models of DNA to test their theories about its composition. An X-ray photograph of DNA produced by Rosalind Franklin helped them to realize its double-helix structure. The two strands of DNA bond together by the base pairs and twist around each other like a spiraling ladder.