Molecular structure of DNA and RNA - Discovery of the double helix

14 important questions on Molecular structure of DNA and RNA - Discovery of the double helix

What was not known of DNA in the 1950s?

It was not known how the nucleotides were bonded together to form the structure of DNA.

What 4 people played a major role in the discovery of the double helix?

- James Watson
- Francis Crick
- Rosalind Franklin
- Maurice Wilkins

Why committed these 4 people themselves to determining the structure of DNA?

They felt this knowledge was needed to understand the functioning of genes
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Which method was important in the discovery of the double helix?

Model building.

What proposed Linus Pauling in the 1950s?

That regions of proteins can fold into a secundary structure known als an α helix. He built models to illustrate this.

Are models still used to unterstand structures of molecules?

Yes, but modern-day molecular geneticists usually construct their models on computers.

Which development led also to the discovery of the double helix?

Improvement in the use of X-ray diffraction.

What is X-ray diffraction?

When a substance, such as DNA, is subjected to X-rays, it produces a diffraction pattern if the molecular structure has a repeating pattern. An interpretation of this pattern (mathematical) can provide information concerning the structure of the molecule.

Which 3 observations concerning the structure of DNA made Rosalind Franklin during her experiments with DNA and X-ray diffraction?

- DNA had a helical (spiraalvormige) structure
- The diameter of the structure was too wide to be a single-stranded helix
- The helix had about 10 bp (basepairs) per complete turn.

What kind of experiment was done by Chargaff?

He isolated the bases from a variaty of different cells, to see what percentages of the different bases were present in these cells

Which to things kept Watson and Crick in mind, during there attempts to build a model of the structure of DNA?

- DNA is composed of nucleotides, linked together in a lineair fashion;
- The chemical linkage between two nucleotides is always the same.

Who was the first to suggest a two-strand interaction that was helical?

Franklin, she had produced even clearer X-ray diffraction patterns.

What did Watson and Crick finally discover?

DNA had a two-strand helical structure, with the bases projecting toward each other. There appeared to be interactions between A and T, and C and G.

Who got the Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of DNA?

Watson, Crick, and Wilkins (who shared Franklin's results with Watson and Crick).

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