Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Is triple-strands or multiple-strands DNA possible?

+0
−0

Before the double helix DNA was discovered by Watson and his colleague, they theorized the existence of a triple-strands DNA and its properties. Is multiple-strands DNA possible perhaps by manipulating the structure of a double helix DNA with science? Multi means more than 2

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/13248. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

1 answer

+0
−0

It is possible but impractical.

Double-helix DNA's structure is something like this:

$$ \text{B "” (A/C/T/G) : (T/G/A/C) "” B} $$

where B is a backbone molecule, A/C/T/G is adenine/cytosine/thymine/guanine, "” is a molecular bond, and : is a hydrogen intermolecular bond.

What's important here is the molecule connecting the strands: since it's only connecting 2 backbones, it's a relatively simple molecule.


3-way DNA I can't accurately represent with MathJax, so here's a picture:

3-way DNA

In this diagram, a line is a molecular bond, a dotted line is a hydrogen intermolecular bond, B remains the same, H and N are hydrogen and nitrogen, and (AF/CF/TF/GF) is some variation of (A/C/T/G) where the molecule must incorporate a fluorine molecule on the outside of the molecule.

The part in the center is $\text{NH}_3$, which I have picked purely because it has 3 outer hydrogen molecules. These hydrogens form hydrogen intermolecular bonds with the fluorine atoms in (AF/CF/TF/GF).

There are relatively few 3-way molecules like $\text{NH}_3$, so 3-way DNA is more difficult and more fragile than 2-way.


4-way DNA is also possible: substitute $\text{NH}_3$ in the diagram for $\text{CH}_4$, methane, which has 4 outer hydrogens and can thus form intermolecular bonds with 4 (AF/CF/TF/GF) - B groups.


The major point to note here is that DNA is the way it is because it's simple: 2-way DNA does not require another molecule in the middle like my representations of 3- and 4-way DNA do. While my ideas are probably not optimal, 2-way DNA is both simpler and stronger than any other type.

(Also, DNA helicase (one of the enzymes that process DNA) would have a hard time adapting for 3- or 4-way DNA.)

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »