Watson-Crick helix

helix

 [he´liks] (pl. he´lices, helixes) (Gr.)

1. a winding structure; see also coil and spiral.

2. the superior and posterior free margin of the pinna of the ear.

α-helix (alpha helix) the complex structural arrangement of parts of protein molecules in which a single polypeptide chain forms a right-handed helix.

double helix (Watson-Crick helix) the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), consisting of two coiled chains, each of which contains information completely specifying the other chain.

Wat·son-Crick he·lix

(waht'sŏn crik),

the helical structure assumed by two strands of deoxyribonucleic acid, held together throughout their length by hydrogen bonds between bases on opposite strands, referred to as Watson-Crick base pairing. See: base pair.

Synonym(s): DNA helix, double helix, twin helix

[James Dewey Watson, Francis H. C. Crick]

Watson-Crick helix

[wôt′sən krik′]

Etymology: John Dewey Watson, American geneticist, b. 1928; Francis H. Crick, British biochemist, b. 1916-2004; Gk, helix, coil

a model of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule proposed by Watson and Crick as two right-handed polynucleotide chains coiled around the same axis as a double helix. The purine and pyrimidine bases of each strand are on the inside of the double helix and paired according to a Watson-Crick hydrogen-bonding base-pairing rule. Variations in the sequences of the bases determine the genetic information transmitted by the DNA molecule. Watson and Crick received the Nobel Prize in 1962.

Wat·son-Crick he·lix

(waht'sŏn-krik' hē'liks)

The helical structure assumed by two strands of deoxyribonucleic acid, held together throughout their length by hydrogen bonds between bases on opposite strands, referred to as Watson-Crick base pairing.
See also: base pair
Synonym(s): DNA helix, double helix.

[James Dewey Watson, Francis H. C. Crick]

Crick,

Francis H.C., English biochemist and Nobel laureate, 1916–.

Watson-Crick helix - see under Watson, James Dewey

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Watson,

James Dewey, U.S. geneticist and Nobel laureate, 1928–.

Watson-Crick helix - the helical structure assumed by two strands of deoxyribonucleic acid. Synonym(s): DNA helix; double helix; twin helix

Wat·son-Crick he·lix

(waht'sŏn-krik' hē'liks)

Helical structure assumed by two strands of deoxyribonucleic acid, held together throughout their length by hydrogen bonds between bases on opposite strands, referred to as Watson-Crick base pairing.