Researchers have discovered that four-stranded DNA exists within
the human genome, according to Science Daily today, Jan. 20.
This finding may provide scientists with the necessary tools to
combat cancer more successfully. The study funded by Cancer
Research UK, and published in the Jan. 20, 2013 Nature Chemistry
journal is the culmination of 10 years of research which began
as hypothetical computer models and ended in successful
replication of the four stranded DNA named “G-quadruplexes” in
vivo. The announcement of this new discovery comes just three
months shy of the 60th anniversary of James Watson and Francis
Crick’s groundbreaking study which revealed the double helix
model of DNA in their paper “A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic
Acid.” DNA is typically double stranded and contains four
different nucleotides, adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine.
The particular order of nucleotides within a DNA strand
determines the “code” for a particular operation or protein
synthesis to occur. The research team