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5.03:_The_Double_Helix_of_DNA
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<figure><img style="width: 255px; height: 690px;" class="internal" alt="Diagram of a DNA double helix, showing the structure with labeled phosphate, deoxyribose, and base pairs. An arrow points to the 3 and 5 ends, indicating directionality." loading="lazy" width="255px" height="690px" src="https://bio.libretexts.org/@api/deki/files/6522/DoubleHelix.gif?revision=1&size=bestfit&width=255&height=690" /><figcaption>Figure 5.3.1: Double Helix of DNA</figcaption></figure> <p class="lt-bio-4741">This structure of DNA was worked out by <strong>Francis Crick</strong> and <strong>James D. Watson</strong> in 1953. It revealed how DNA - the molecule that Avery had shown was the physical substance of the genes. It could be replicated and so passed on from generation to generation. For this epochal work, they shared a Nobel Prize in 1962.</p> <footer class="mt-content-footer"> <style>/*<![CDATA[*/#mt-toc-container {display: none !important;}/*]]>*/</style><script type="text/javascript">/*<![CDATA[*/ $(function() { if(!window['autoDefinitionList']){ window['autoDefinitionList'] = true; $('dl').find('dt').on('click', function() { $(this).next().toggle('350'); }); } });/*]]>*/</script> <script defer="true" src="https://static.cloudflareinsights.com/beacon.min.js" data-cf-beacon="{"token": "483ec2414e274209a7e93c253192df0b"}"></script><script src="https://cdn.libretexts.net/github/LibreTextsMain/Miscellaneous/h5p-resizer.js"></script><script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/iframe-resizer/4.2.11/iframeResizer.contentWindow.min.js" integrity="sha512-FOf4suFgz7OrWmBiyyWW48u/+6GaaAFSDHagh2EBu/GH/1+OQSYc0NFGeGeZK0gZ3vuU1ovmzVzD6bxmT4vayg==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script><script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/iframe-resizer/4.2.11/iframeResizer.min.js" integrity="sha512-HY1lApSG7xxx8mYzs/lxRs+c5AaDThRaa3pvQB6puiswvf2lWqMJVf+8qSGiL4ZXfHQoPIqbd1TlpqfycPo3cQ==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script><script>/*<![CDATA[*/window.addEventListener('load', function(){$('iframe').iFrameResize({warningTimeout:0, scrolling: 'omit'});})/*]]>*/</script><script>/*<![CDATA[*/ window.PageNum = "auto"; window.InitialOffset = "false"; window.PageName = "5.3: The Double Helix of DNA"; /*]]>*/</script> <script type="text/javascript">/*<![CDATA[*/ // var front = window.PageNum.trim(); if(front=="auto"){ front = window.PageName.replace('\"', '\\\"').trim(); //front = "'..string.matchreplace(PageName,'\"','\\\"')..'".trim(); if(front.includes(":")){ front = front.split(":")[0].trim(); if(front.includes(".")){ front = front.split("."); front = front.map((int)=>int.includes("0")?parseInt(int,10):int).join("."); } front+="."; } else { front = ""; } } front = front.trim(); function loadMathJaxScript() { try { const script = document.createElement('script'); script.id = "mathjax-script"; script.src = "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/mathjax@4/tex-mml-svg.js"; script.type = "text/javascript"; script.defer = true; document.head.appendChild(script); } catch (err) { console.error(err); } } document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (e) => { loadMathJaxScript(); }); if (window.PageName !== 'Realtime MathJax'){ MathJax = { options: { ignoreHtmlClass: "tex2jax_ignore", processHtmlClass: "tex2jax_process", menuOptions: { settings: { zscale: "150%", zoom: "Double-Click", assistiveMml: true, // true to enable assitive MathML collapsible: false, // true to enable collapsible math }, }, }, output: { scale: 0.85, mtextInheritFont: false, displayOverflow: "linebreak", linebreaks: { width: "100%", }, }, startup: { pageReady: () => { if (window.activateBeeLine) { window.activateBeeLine(); } return MathJax.startup.defaultPageReady(); }, }, chtml: { matchFontHeight: true, }, tex: { tags: "all", tagformat: { number: (n) => { if (window.InitialOffset) { const offset = Number(window.InitialOffset); if(!offset) { return front + n; // If offset is falsy (nan, undefined, etc.) } const added = Number(n) + offset; return front + added; } else { return front + n; } }, }, macros: { eatSpaces: ['#1', 2, ['', ' ', '\\endSpaces']], PageIndex: ['{' + front.replace(/\./g, '{.}') + '\\eatSpaces#1 \\endSpaces}', 1], test: ["{" + front + "#1}", 1], mhchemrightleftharpoons: "{\\unicode{x21CC}\\,}", xrightleftharpoons: ['\\mhchemxrightleftharpoons[#1]{#2}', 2, ''] }, packages: { "[+]": [ "mhchem", "color", "cancel", "ams", "tagformat" ], }, }, loader: { '[tex]/mhchem': { ready() { const {MapHandler} = MathJax._.input.tex.MapHandler; const mhchem = MapHandler.getMap('mhchem-chars'); mhchem.lookup('mhchemrightarrow')._char = '\uE42D'; mhchem.lookup('mhchemleftarrow')._char = '\uE42C'; } }, load: [ "[tex]/mhchem", "[tex]/color", "[tex]/cancel", "[tex]/tagformat", ], }, }; }; ///*]]>*/</script> <hr class="autoattribution-divider" /><div class="autoattribution"><p>This page titled <a target="_blank" class="internal mt-self-link" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/biology/05:_DNA/5.03:_The_Double_Helix_of_DNA">5.3: The Double Helix of DNA</a> is shared under a <a rel="nofollow" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0" target="_blank">CC BY 3.0</a> license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.biology-pages.info/">John W. 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