• Question: why are the DNA structures drawn as a spiral, is this what it looks like in real life, in you skin ect.???

    Asked by lovefromcally to Chris, Kay, Kerstin, Lorna, Liv on 16 Mar 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Kerstin Zechner

      Kerstin Zechner answered on 16 Mar 2010:

      Hey Cally! Yes, if you could see DNA up close, it would look like a spiral. This is due to the interactions between the building blocks of DNA and water. While the parts of DNA that are attracted to water remain on the outside, the ones that don’t like water remain in the inside of the spiral. The only way the “water-hating” building blocks can stay away from water is if the DNA forms this spiral. I hope that answers your question 🙂

    • Photo: Kay Penicud

      Kay Penicud answered on 16 Mar 2010:

      Hi there,

      Yep, in real like your DNA is a spiral. Think of a spiral staircase, thats the structure your DNA has at the simplest level in your cells. However its folded over and over on itself so much that if all the DNA in your body was stretched out to its full length, it would reach the moon. Pretty cool huh?

    • Photo: Olivia Hibbitt

      Olivia Hibbitt answered on 19 Mar 2010:

      Hi Lovefromcally,

      well DNA is indeed a spiral….Watson, Crick and Wilkins (everyone forgets him….he’s a kiwi!) AND Rosalind Franklin discovered that the structure of DNA is in the helix, BUT in cells say in your skin most of the DNA will be tightly wound up into things called chromosomes…..only the bits of DNA that are acutally being used at that time will be unwound.

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