It is this alternating sugar-phosphate arrangement that forms the "backbone" of a DNA molecule. Figure 3: All polynucleotides contain an alternating sugar-phosphate backbone.

B-DNA is the most common form of DNA and has a right-handed double helix structure. A-DNA forms in a shorter, right-handed double helix. The function of this form is to protect DNA.

In the second step, the AMP is transferred to the 5’-end of the 5’-phosphate-terminated DNA strand to form DNA-adenylate — an inverted pyrophosphate bridge structure, AppN. In this reaction, the ...

Water molecules surround the genetic material DNA in a very specific way. Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have discovered that, on the one hand, the texture of this ...

The two strands of DNA form a 3-D structure called a double helix. When illustrated, DNA looks like a spiral ladder in which the base pairs are the rungs, and the sugar-phosphate backbones are the ...

The discovery of DNA structure by James Watson and Francis Crick in the year 1953 is one of the most revolutionary scientific discoveries to date. However, the research leading to the discovery of ...

DNA is a biological molecule that contains the instructions an organism needs to function, develop, and reproduce. It is present in all forms of life on earth and contains each organism’s ...

In the middle of the 20th century, accumulating data suggested that DNA carries life’s genetic information. Biochemists around the world raced to determine its structure. The competition led to ...

Structure: DNA consists of two strands, arranged in a double helix. These strands are made up of subunits called nucleotides. Each nucleotide contains a phosphate, a 5-carbon sugar molecule and a ...

Many people believe that American biologist James Watson and English physicist Francis Crick discovered DNA in the 1950s. In reality, this is not the case. Rather, DNA was first identified in the ...

Chances are you've seen an illustration of DNA's double-helix structure and even pictures of the chromosomes that make up the human genome. But where and how does the famous double helix fit into ...

The double helix, though, is not the only form in which DNA exists. For the first time ever, scientists have identified the existence of a new DNA structure that looks more like a twisted, four ...