Watson-Crick model

views updated

Watson-Crick model The currently accepted model for the structure of DNA, as proposed by J. Watson and F. Crick in 1953. It is suggested that DNA is composed of two right-handed, antiparallel, polynucleotide chains coiled around a common axis to form a double helix. This structure is maintained by hydrogen bonds formed between the chains through the basepairing of adenine to thymine and cytosine to guanine.