Findings could aid research in biological nanomaterials
When Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the double
helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in 1953, their findings began
a genetic revolution to map, study, and sequence the building blocks of living
organisms.
DNA encodes the genetic material passed on from generation
to generation. For the information encoded in the DNA to be made into the
proteins and enzymes necessary for life, ribonucleic acid (RNA),
single-stranded genetic material found in the ribosomes of cells, serves as
intermediary. Although usually single-stranded, some RNA sequences have the
ability to form a double helix, much like DNA.