DNA

Geis illustrates a double helix in his depiction of DNA. He portrays the helices with a soft ribbon structure. The white "box-like" structures represent a base pair in the DNA strand.

Used with permission from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (www.hhmi.org). All rights reserved.

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Related PDB Entry: 1BNA

Experimental Structure Citation

Drew, H. R., Wing, R. M., Takano, T., Broka, C., Tanaka, S., Itakura, K., & Dickerson, R. E. (1981). Structure of a B-DNA dodecamer: conformation and dynamics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 78(4), 2179–2183.

About DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is the hereditary material in animals and nearly all other organisms. Almost every cell in our body has the same DNA. Located in the cell nucleus, DNA has the important property of replicating and making copies of itself. DNA is responsible for carrying most of the genetic instructions used in growth, development, functioning, and reproduction.