Double Helix of DNA: all about double helix structure of DNA
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THE EAGLE is a pub in Cambridge city centre. It is a popular place for students and professors for socialization and lunch. On 28/2/1953 Francis Crick interrupted patrons lunchtime to announce that he and his colleague James Watson had discovered the Secret of Life after they have come up with their model for a 3D structure of Deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA stores hereditary information that is passed on from one generation to next and holds the key to the complex world of the cell. Watson and Crick model of DNA structure appeared as a single page article in the journal Nature on 25/4/1953which marked the beginning of a new branch of science, Molecular Biology. The climax of the first 50yrs of DNA revolution and molecular biology came in 2003 with the completion of Human Genome Project It marked the end of Vitalism and life was explained on the basis of chemistry and physics. If the twentieth century was the age of computer revolution and information technology, the twenty-first century will be the age of genetic revolution and it is interesting to review the progress from the double-helical structure of DNA to the present age of gene editing and genomic medicine. DNA was isolated in 1869 by Swiss scientist Dr Friedrich Miescher from hu-man white cells which he called Nuclein. Oswald Avery’s experiments on mice confirmed DNA as the hereditary material in 1944. Other scientists like Phoebus Levine, Erwin Chargaff and Linus Pauling attempted to figure out the structure but proved wrong. Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins were biophysicists at Kings College, London and X-ray crystallography studies by these two scientists proved a fundamental clue for Watson and Crick in elucidating the structure of this molecule. The famous photograph of DNA by Franklin, photograph 51, as compared to different cardboard models by Watson and the last one proved correct. DNA con-sits of two anti-parallel helical strands composed of RIBOSE and PHOSPHATE groups as backbones connected by four nucleotides, namely, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine. Adenine always paired with Thymine and cytosine with guanine which suggested a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material. The double helix has made many important turns from its origin in Cavendish laboratory and the Eagle pub in1953. Deciphering The Genetic Code, Recombinant DNA Technology, Sequencing The Nucleotides, Gm Crops, Evolutionary Biology, Biotechnology, Genetic Finger Printing And Completion Of Human Genome Project are some of the achievements since 1953 with 24 Nobel prizes awarded to research in genetics or molecular biology. Most importantly read more……..
Post-Genomic Era
During the 50 yrs after Francis Crick’s announcement in the Eagle, the famous molecule has influenced medicine, biological sciences and law to a great extent. DNA is no longer a matter of interest only to scientists working in university laboratories, but it affects society as a whole. But the science of molecular biology has a long way to go. Cancer has to be conquered, effective and safe gene therapies still to be developed, and genetic engineering has to realise its full potential of making safe food and medicines. Translational researches have been modest from laborato read more……..
The Future
The future is in the collection of data from centres all over the world to a global knowledge resource, translation of laboratory findings to clinical medicine and from reading to writing DNA. Moral, ethical and legal implications will be enormous. For the immediate future DNA based medical treatment will be unaffordable for any health service. Following are areas in molecular biology and genetics where rapid progress is being made in the top centres in the USA and UK.
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Gene Therapy
Gene therapy is an experimental technique that uses genes to treat or prevent disease. It can be done by replacing a mutated gene that causes disease by a healthy copy of a gene, inactivates a mutated gene or by introducing a new gene to fight disease. There are a variety of diseases, genetic and non-genetic read more……..
Mitochondrial Diseases
Mitochondrial diseases are a group of rare disorders caused by dysfunction of mitochondria and transmitted from mother to all children. Though rare, mitochondrial diseases are extremely complex and they can cause virtually any symptom in any organ at any age. Mitochondrial replacement therapy is a type of IVF which involves genetic elements from three people. The nucleus from fertilized egg of parents is implanted into a donor egg read more……..
