Watson and Crick Experiment
As the details on structure of DNA was discovered in the early 1950's, James D. Watson and Francis Crick believed that DNA would be better understood and represented in a three dimensional structure. Through this physical structure it DNA would have better representation of molecular distances and bond angles. After believing that they had discovered that DNA can exists in two forms depending on relative humidity and the surrounding air, they failed at deducing that the phosphate part of the molecule was on the outside.
However, their experiment took a different route when they took a conceptual step at suggesting that the DNA molecule consisted of two chains of nucleotide, each consisting in a helix. These helix did not go in the same direction. One helix went upward while the other helix went downward. The double helix model become so fitted that the matching base pairs interlocked in the middle of the helix to keep the distance between the chains constant.
With this discovery Watson and Crick also showed that each strand of DNA molecule becomes a template for the other and that during cell division two strands separate and each individual strand creates a new pairing strand identical to the previous one. Through this DNA can reproduce itself and never have to change it's structure except when mutation errors occur.
However, their experiment took a different route when they took a conceptual step at suggesting that the DNA molecule consisted of two chains of nucleotide, each consisting in a helix. These helix did not go in the same direction. One helix went upward while the other helix went downward. The double helix model become so fitted that the matching base pairs interlocked in the middle of the helix to keep the distance between the chains constant.
With this discovery Watson and Crick also showed that each strand of DNA molecule becomes a template for the other and that during cell division two strands separate and each individual strand creates a new pairing strand identical to the previous one. Through this DNA can reproduce itself and never have to change it's structure except when mutation errors occur.
The discovery of Watson and Crick was established through the discoveries of many other scientists as well as their trial and error. Their main goal remained that they wanted to project the structure and functionality of the DNA strand as well as how the connection of it and the physical structure was affecting DNA. They believed that discovering the physical structure would help understand and explain the functionality of DNA as a whole.