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Structure and replication of DNADNA: Discovering the structure

DNA is the molecule that holds the instructions for all living things. DNA achieves this feat of storing, coding and transferring biological information though its unique structure.

Part of Human BiologyHuman Cells

DNA: Discovering the structure

A synthetic DNA molecule
Image caption,
Synthetic DNA molecule

James Watson and Francis Crick worked out the structure of in 1953.

By using data from other scientists (Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins) they were able to build a model of DNA. The X-ray crystallography data they used showed that DNA consists of two strands coiled into a .

An x-ray diffraction photograph of DNA
Image caption,
The famous X-ray diffraction photograph of DNA taken by Rosalind Franklin, known as photograph 51.