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Article: Self-made molecules do the double twist. (getting molecules to form a double helix)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- July 28, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Self-made molecules do the double twist
Since the 1950s, when scientists uncovered the molecular structure of DNA, the double helix has symbolized biological phenomena as minute as a fruit-fly's eye and as grandiose as evolution. No wonder some chemists focus on making molecules to interact with such celebrity biochemicals or mimic their structures.
In the July 26 NATURE, Jean-Marie Lehn of the Universite Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France, and co-workers describe how they coaxed molecular segments to self-assemble into double-helical molecules with DNA-like appendages.
Several years ago, Lehn and other co-workers first reported making the ...