Question
DNA is (1)double helix.
Answer
3.9
(176 Votes)
Paige
Veteran · Tutor for 12 years
Answer
True
Explanation
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. The structure of DNA is characteristic of a double helix, which was discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 with the help of Rosalind Franklin's X-ray diffraction images. The double helix looks like a twisted ladder or spiral staircase. It is composed of two strands that wind around each other. Each strand is made up of a sugar-phosphate backbone and nitrogenous bases that extend from this backbone like the steps of a ladder. The two strands are held together by hydrogen bonds between pairs of bases: adenine pairs with thymine, and cytosine pairs with guanine. This structure allows DNA to carry genetic information in a stable form that can be accurately copied and transmitted from one generation to the next.