The Double Helix Terms

Adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine (generally labeled A, T, G, and C) are the four nitrogenous bases that occur in DNA and carry an organism’s genetic code. read analysis of Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, and Cytosine

The alpha helix is a common molecular structure in proteins, which Linus Pauling discovered in 1951. It involves a series of amino acids (or polypeptide chain) arranged in a twisting, helical structure. Pauling’s research… read analysis of Alpha Helix

Bacteriophages, or phages for short, are viruses that infect bacteria. Watson began his research career by studying bacteriophages. read analysis of Bacteriophages (Phages)

The University of Cambridge is composed of several dozen smaller colleges that provide accommodation, community, and undergraduate teaching for students. read analysis of Cambridge Colleges

Crystallography is the study of the structure of crystals (including crystallized biological molecules, like DNA). The most important crystallography technique is X-ray diffraction. read analysis of Crystallography

Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is the molecule that carries an organism’s genetic code. Before Crick and Watson discovered its double helix structure in 1953, however, scientists didn’t understand its purpose and strongly disagreed about its… read analysis of DNA

A hydrogen bond is the weak attractive force between a hydrogen atom in one molecule and the negatively-charged atoms in another molecule (like the oxygen atom in a water molecule). Hydrogen bonds hold together DNA… read analysis of Hydrogen Bonds

Nitrogenous bases are the component of DNA’s nucleotides that encodes genetic information. DNA includes four nitrogenous bases—adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine—which are attached to the sugar-phosphate backbone. read analysis of Nitrogenous Bases

Nucleotides are the basic components of DNA. In fact, DNA is just a very long chain of nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of three components: the sugar deoxyribose, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous… read analysis of Nucleotide

The phosphate group is one of the three components of a nucleotide in DNA. Phosphate groups bond with the sugar deoxyribose to form a DNA molecule’s sugar-phosphate backbone. read analysis of Phosphate Groups

A polypeptide chain is a series of amino acids that are bonded together and form a protein. read analysis of Polypeptide Chain

The sugar-phosphate backbone is the chain of alternating phosphate groups and deoxyribose sugars that holds together a series of different nucleotides. DNA has two sugar-phosphate backbones, which wrap around each other in a helical… read analysis of Sugar-Phosphate Backbone

Tobacco mosaic virus (or TMV for short) is a common plant virus. It was the first virus ever discovered, and it’s frequently used in scientific research because it’s easy to produce and poses no danger… read analysis of Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV)

X-ray diffraction is an important technique in crystallography. It involves shooting an X-ray beam at a crystal, then measuring how this X-ray beam diffracts (or splits apart in different directions). These diffraction measurements allow… read analysis of X-ray Diffraction