Discovery opens up possibilities for a new generation of
targeted therapies for cancer.
In 1953, Cambridge researchers Watson and Crick published a
paper describing the interweaving ‘double helix’ DNA structure – the chemical
code for all life.
Now, in the year of that scientific landmark’s 60th
Anniversary, Cambridge researchers have published a paper proving that
four-stranded ‘quadruple helix’ DNA structures – known as G-quadruplexes – also
exist within the human genome. They form in regions of DNA that are rich in the
building block guanine, usually abbreviated to ‘G’.