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In molecular biology, the term double helix [1] refers to the structure formed by double-stranded molecules of nucleic acids such as DNA. The double helical structure of a nucleic acid complex arises as a consequence of its secondary structure , and is a fundamental component in determining its tertiary structure .
DNA is made up of a double helix of two complementary strands. DNA is often called double helix. The double helix describes the appearance of a double-stranded DNA which is thus composed of two linear strands that run opposite to each other and twist together. [6] During replication, these strands are separated.
Here, the single-stranded DNA curls around in a long circle stabilized by telomere-binding proteins. [68] At the very end of the T-loop, the single-stranded telomere DNA is held onto a region of double-stranded DNA by the telomere strand disrupting the double-helical DNA and base pairing to one of the two strands.
In most cases, naturally occurring DNA molecules are double-stranded and RNA molecules are single-stranded. [19] There are numerous exceptions, however—some viruses have genomes made of double-stranded RNA and other viruses have single-stranded DNA genomes, [20] and, in some circumstances, nucleic acid structures with three or four strands ...
DNA replication also works by using a DNA template, the DNA double helix unwinds during replication, exposing unpaired bases for new nucleotides to hydrogen bond to. Gene synthesis, however, does not require a DNA template and genes are assembled de novo. DNA synthesis occurs in all eukaryotes and prokaryotes, as well as some viruses. The ...
Other advances in molecular biology stemming from the discovery of the DNA double helix eventually led to ways to sequence genes. James Watson directed the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health. [7] The ability to sequence and manipulate DNA is now central to the biotechnology industry and modern medicine.
To synthesize DNA, the double-stranded DNA is unwound by DNA helicases ahead of polymerases, forming a replication fork containing two single-stranded templates. Replication processes permit copying a single DNA double helix into two DNA helices, which are divided into the daughter cells at mitosis .
When a molecule of DNA is double stranded, as DNA usually is, the two strands run in opposite directions. Therefore, one end of the molecule will have the 3' end of strand 1 and the 5' end of strand 2, and vice versa in the other end. [2] However, the fact that the molecule is two stranded allows numerous different variations.