JLine Tamil Novels & Stories

Dear Users, Please register your account again if you have trouble to login or You can also email to jbtamil18@gmail.com to register again.

JLine Bookstore Online

Discovery of DNA structure

Sri Ra

New member
Study of DNA is a vast branch of science from basic to applied research works such as human disease genetics.

Our genetic makeup is made of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) which serves as a basic building block of living organisms. DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher in 1869. The detailed insight understanding its molecular structure was first identified at the Cavendish Laboratory in the University of Cambridge in 1953 by the persistent efforts of James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins. James Watson and Francis Crick published a paper on the double helix structure of DNA in the journal Nature in April 25, 1953. April 25 also became the National DNA Day.

Picture 1: The four scientists and first X-ray crystallographic image of DNA.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962 was awarded jointly to Francis Harry Compton Crick, James Dewey Watson and Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material.“

The DNA structure is elucidated as a double helical structure made of complementary nitrogenous bases which are called pyrimidines (thymine T and cytosine C) and purines (adenine A and guanine G) . Each nucleotide is composed of one of the four bases, the sugar- deoxyribose, and a phosphate group. The nucleotides are joined to one another in a chain by covalent bonds. The bases from the parallel strands pair via hydrogen bonds (A with T and C with G) giving rise to a helical structure.

Picture 2:Schematic diagram of DNA helix.

Our body is made up of more than six billion units (nucleotides) of DNA divided across 46 chromosomes. Any error in the base composition leads to defective diseased state. Since DNA has the core genetic information, the structure allows scientists to make accurate predictions about many diseases related to DNA and how they can be treated. eg., Cardiovascular diseases, Cancer,..

Keywords: Science, DNA, structure, genetics, therapy
 

Members online

Buy TANJORE PAINTING @ ETSY.COM
Top