![]() More information on the methods the researchers used to show how DNA binds together Nobody had previously placed DNA in a hydrophobic environment like this and studied how it behaves, so it's not surprising that nobody had discovered this so far." This could help us to understand DNA, and how it repairs. We have also shown that DNA behaves totally differently in a hydrophobic environment. Now, we have shown that instead it is the hydrophobic forces which lie behind it. "So far, we have not, because we believed that hydrogen bonds were what held it together. To understand that, we first need to understand DNA itself," says Bobo Feng. "To understand cancer, we need to understand how DNA repairs. In human cells, the protein Rad51 repairs DNA and fixes mutated DNA sequences, which otherwise could lead to cancer. The researchers believe their results could pave the way for new insight into how this process works, and potential methods for stopping this and thereby killing the bacteria. Bacteria use a protein called RecA to repair their DNA. Understanding these proteins could yield many new insights into how we could, for example, fight resistant bacteria, or potentially even cure cancer. This type of protein is central to all DNA repairs, meaning it could be the key to fighting many serious sicknesses. A catalytic protein creates the hydrophobic environment. ![]() When it comes to repairing damaged DNA, the damaged areas are subjected to a hydrophobic environment, to be replaced. Enzymes then copy both sides of the helix to create new DNA. Reproduction, for example, involves the base pairs dissolving from one another and opening up. "We believe that the cell keeps its DNA in a water solution most of the time, but as soon as a cell wants to do something with its DNA, like read, copy or repair it, it exposes the DNA to a hydrophobic environment." ![]() "But at the same time, the cells' DNA needs to open up in order to be used." "Cells want to protect their DNA, and not expose it to hydrophobic environments, which can sometimes contain harmful molecules," says Bobo Feng, one of the researchers behind the study. The discovery is crucial for understanding DNA's relationship with its environment. The role of the hydrogen bonds, which have sometimes been seen as crucial to holding DNA helixes together, appears to be more to do with sorting the base pairs, so that they link together in the correct sequence. When hydrophobic units are in a hydrophilic environment, they group together, to minimise their exposure to the water. The environment is therefore hydrophilic, while the DNA molecules' nitrogen bases are hydrophobic, pushing away the surrounding water. ![]() Those hydrogen bonds have sometimes been seen as crucial to holding the two strands together.īut now, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology show that the secret to DNA's helical structure may be that the molecules have a hydrophobic interior, in an environment consisting mainly of water. Between these two strands are nitrogen bases, the compounds which make up organisms' genes, with hydrogen bonds between them. DNA is constructed of two strands, consisting of sugar molecules and phosphate groups. ![]()
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