The structure of DNA shows a variety of forms, both double-stranded and single-stranded. The mechanical properties of DNA, which are directly related to its structure, are a significant problem for cells. Every process which binds or reads DNA is able to use or modify the mechanical properties of DNA for purposes of recognition, packaging and modification. The extreme length (a chromosome may contain a 10 cm long DNA strand), relative rigidity and helical structure of DNA has led to the evolution of histones and of enzymes such as topoisomerases and helicases to manage a cell's DNA. The properties of DNA are closely related to its molecular structure and sequence, particularly the weakness of the hydrogen bonds and electronic interactions that hold strands of DNA together compared to the strength of the bonds within each strand.
Experimental methods which can directly measure the mechanical properties of DNA are relatively new, and high-resolution visualization in solution is often difficult. Nevertheless, scientists have uncovered large amount of data on the mechanical properties of this polymer, and the implications of DNA's mechanical properties on cellular processes is a topic of active current research.
The DNA found in many cells can be macroscopic in length: a few centimetres long for each human chromosome. Consequently, cells must compact or package DNA to carry it within them. In eukaryotes this is carried by spool-like proteins named histones, around which DNA winds. It is the further compaction of this DNA-protein complex which produces the well known mitotic eukaryotic chromosomes.
In the late 1970s, alternate non-helical models of DNA structure were briefly considered as a potential solution to problems in DNA replication in plasmids and chromatin.  However, the models were set aside in favor of the double-helical model due to subsequent experimental advances such as X-ray crystallography of DNA duplexes, and later the nucleosome core particle, and the discovery of topoisomerases. Such non-double-helical models are not currently accepted by the mainstream scientific community.