In human cells, scientists find DNA that looks like a twisted knot instead of a double helix
by Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times
Apr 23, 2018
3 minutes
For the first time, scientists have detected a DNA structure inside living human cells that looks more like a four-stranded knot than the elegant double helix we know from biology textbooks.
The tangled shape, known as an i-motif, had been seen before in the lab, but nobody thought it could occur in human cells - until now.
The new work shows not only that i-motifs do indeed exist in human cells, but that they may be quite common.
"Our imaging suggests that this is a
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