| | DNA structure: Yet another avatar? |
 | | Since this structure was observed when the molecule was fully hydrated and it also immediately suggested a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material and the semiconservative replication of DNA, it was readily accepted as being the biologically relevant structure for DNA. |
 | | This structure was solved using very high resolution X-ray data, so it could not be ignored, which was the fate of many theoretically model-built structures, but since it was only observed under conditions of high salt, its biological relevance remained questionable and it has also been relegated to the domain of interesting curiosities. |
 | | In this structure the phosphate backbone remains on the outside, with its negative charge being neutralized by the basic groups in the coat protein assembly, but the bases in the two antiparallel strands are merely intercalated, rather than basepaired through hydrogen bonds, as in the complementary WatsonCrick double helix. |
| www.ias.ac.in /currsci/may10/articles9.htm (1628 words) |