History of molecular biology Crick and Watson built physical models using metal rods and balls, in which they incorporated the known chemical structures of the nucleotides, as well as the known position of the linkages joining one nucleotide to the next along the polymer. At King's College Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin examined X-ray diffraction patterns of DNA fibers. Of the three groups, only the London group was able to produce good quality diffraction patterns and thus produce sufficient quantitative data about the structure. In 1948 Pauling discovered that many proteins included helical (see alpha helix) shapes. Pauling had deduced this structure from X-ray
Triple-stranded DNA Triple-stranded DNA Triple-stranded DNA (also known as H-DNA or Triplex-DNA) is a DNA structure in which three oligonucleotides wind around each other and form a triple helix. In triple stranded-DNA, one strand binds to a B-form DNA (Watson–Crick base-pairing) through Hoogsteen base pair or reversed Hoogsteen hydrogen bonds. A thymine (T) nucleobase can bind to a Watson–Crick base-pairing of T-A by a Hoogsteen hydrogen bond. The thymine attaches to the adosine (A) of the origin double stranded DNA to create a T-A*T base-triplet. In acidic conditions, a protonated cytosine, represented as C+, can form a base-triplet with a C-G pair