The discovery of the Structure of DNA (April 25, 1953) began a revolution in Biology
that culminated in the Sequencing of the Human Genome, almost exactly 50 years later (April 14, 2003),
This human genetic map has facilitated molecular genetic approaches,
such as the working out of disease pathways, to more effectively treat
all kinds of diseases, but particularly cancer.
Though James Watson and Frances Crick deduced the Structure of DNA,
they neglected to give credit to Rosalind Franklin,
whose X-ray crystallographic data was crucial to them figuring out the exact double helical structure.
This simulation/animation cycles between showing the Hydrogen Bonding
between the 4 bases: Adenine and Thymine, and Guanine and Cytosine,
The sheer number of Hydrogen bonds keeps the two anti-parallel strands of DNA bound tightly together,
yet allows the strands to easily unravel – like a zipper or velcro,
base pair by base pair – when the cell undergoes DNA replication.
This simulation demonstrates the 3D Molecular Viewer that students build
at the end of the freshman programming course.
Such viewers are used in Drug Research to streamline the pace of research,
and rule out drugs which would be poor candidates.