Researchers in the department of nanostructures and
nanochemistry at the Genoa-based Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
(IIT) report that they have imaged the DNA double helix for the
first time through an electron microscope. Working with
colleagues at the University of Magna Grecia in Catanzaro, the
team says it developed a method that allows them to stretch DNA
filaments throughout the entire double helix structure on a
silicon surface. This permits the investigators to directly
image the helix by a transmission electron microscope. The study
of single molecules, or of small quantities of molecules, is
important for the understanding of fundamental biological
mechanisms at the nanoscale level. The technique developed at
the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia will allow to see how
proteins, RNA, and other biomolecules interact with DNA. “Our
research originated from the awareness that, to deepen the
knowledge of the way DNA works, it is necessary to have new
tools, allowing us to show in a direct way its structur