What are some ideas for making a 3D DNA structure?
151632
two slinkies for the double helix.  Large beads and be added to suggest the molecules.
871450
I did something like that for a science project too. Only mine was a cake with decorations that made it look like a cell... ^_~\nWe also have an actual model of animal and plant cells in my class, but those were mail-ordered. For a really realistic one, you're gonna need some special parts.\nYou can do it more easily with a styrofoam ball of a reasonable size (or a styrofoam cube if you're doing a plant cell), another smaller ball (for the nucleus), I'm not sure what you could use for mitochondria.... Hit a craft store and get creative. There's plenty of stuff out there just waiting for you to find it. Pom-poms could be used for the vacuoles I guess, and you could coat the larger ball with playdoh for the membrane. I'm sure you'll think of something. Remember this when you're working: hot glue guns are your friends.\nJust remember to include all the components:\nNucleus, cytoplasm, vacuoles, mitochondria, cell membrane, endoplasmic reticulum, and the two extra plant parts: chloroplasts and that extra thick wall whose name in English I cannot recall... xD\nIf I can make a sponge cake into an animal cell with some Fuzzy Peaches, Rockets, jelly beans and chocolate sprinkles, I'm sure you can make a styrofoam ball into something just as good or better. Best of luck!
202746
Checkout what is being done with nanotechnology and building structures, Complex structures!, with dna strands!\n\nhttp://www.nature.com/nature/links/040212/040212-1.html\n\nIf it CAN and it can be measured imagine what can be done!\nalmost scary!
720792
A twisted ribbon is pretty a good way to describe DNA. If you imagine that each edge of the ribbon is a strand of DNA, then when you twist the ribbon you will have the characteristic double helix.\n\nIn reality, there is also a sugar/phosphate backbone which is often left out of simple models. The ribbon model also doesn't show you much about the base pairing. Still, it's a nice place to start when you are learning about nucleic acids.
310689
(m)\n\nResearchers can make artificial DNA that contains specific sequences of bases. These strands can interact to compute, and can assemble into specific shapes for nanomachines and templates for assembling other substances into devices or materials.
378211
its a double helix.\n\n  \n 1. DNA is made up of subunits which scientists called nucleotides.\n   2. Each nucleotide is made up of a sugar, a phosphate and a base.\n   3. There are 4 different bases in a DNA molecule:\n\n          adenine (a purine) \n          cytosine (a pyrimidine) \n          guanine (a purine) \n          thymine (a pyrimidine) \n\n   4. The number of purine bases equals the number of pyrimidine bases\n   5. The number of adenine bases equals the number of thymine bases\n   6. The number of guanine bases equals the number of cytosine bases\n   7. The basic structure of the DNA molecule is helical, with the bases being stacked on top of each other
924829
I have an answer to your question, but its easier shown than explained.\n\nI will now attempt the explanation;\n\nI am right handed BTW.\n\n(1) put tube in left hand\n\n(2) hold tube up to light so you can see manual vortex as you perform it (this is critical, because you need to see the tiny air bubbles swirl around in the mix)\n\n(3) flick BOTTOM of tube with forefinger 30-40 times GENTLY.\n\nThis is such an important technique, but often overlooked in experiments.  It is an important variable in experimental outcome.  \n\nBelieve it or not, poor mixing techniques often account for poor results.  \n\nNot only that, but the VORTEX-ER  is NOT always the best way to mix stuff up.  It can be too harsh, depending on what you have in the tube.\n\nFor example, I work with DNA (which is a very long molecule).\n\nI want it to be in its most native and natural state (which is a very long molecule, as I just mentioned).  If I VORTEX a tube containing DNA, I run the risk of MECHANICALLY breaking up the molecule.\n\nThe method I am describing is the best because it is gentle (no matter what size molecules you are working with) and fool proof.\n\nLet me just add this side note:  The smaller the molecules you are working with the less times you have to flick your tube.  I would not go below 15 times though.  \n\nThis is an important question to Scientists!   And I had fun thinking about the answer.  Please spread the good Karma!
694089
http://biology.about.com/library/howto/htcandydna.htm\nThis is how to build a DNA model using candy.  I got it as the second rated site in a google search of "DNA model"  If you don't like their suggestions, you can use this search to find other models.
249178
Are you asking about DNA causing itself to be assembled?
575480
The double helical structure of DNA is due to hydrogen bonding between the base pairs, therefore non-covalent.\n\nEach strand of DNA is a chain of nucleotides. The atoms of each nucleotide are held together by covalent bonds.
466802
High-throughput DNA Isolation Protocol \n\nCTAB Method \n\n1.      Add 80 ul 2-mercaptoethanol to 40 ml CTAB buffer (see recipe below) right before use (0.2%) and mix. \n\n2.      Preheat CTAB DNA isolation buffer to 65°C in a water bath. \n\n3.      Grind freeze-dried leaf tissue (~100mg) in a Mixer Mill for 3-5 min at 30 time/sec with one 3mm steel bead in a 1.1 ml  tube strip from Qiagen\n\n4.      Carefully pour beads out of tubes and add 300 ul CTAB buffer into each tube with a multi-channel pipette (if a plate is used, you can leave beads in until the end of work)\n\n5.      Cap the tube strips and label each strip, caps and rack, incubate the samples in 65 °C water bath for 60-80 min, use shipping tape to secure the rack and lid to prevent caps from openning up while inverting the rack to mix samples.\n\n6.      Mix samples every 15 min by inverting rack 5-10 times to make sure plant tissue mixes well with the buffer. Watch for sample leaking from caps. \n\n7.      Take samples out of water bath, briefly spin sample box in a centrifuge for 1 min at 1500 rpm (balance box weight before spinning), separate caps from tube and put the cap strips on clean paper and arrange them in order so that they can be reused. \n\n8.      Add 300 Chl/IAA (25:1) into each tube with a multi-channel pipette, cap tube with original cap strips, put a plastic board between tube cap and rack lid to make sure every strip cap gets the same pressure from the lid, cover the box with lid, secure the lid with shipping tape. Mix the samples by inverting the box slowly for 15 min (Chloroform can create pressure and cause leaks of chloroform, so the tubes have to be tightly capped).\n\n9.      Centrifuge at 5,700 rpm  for 10 min. \n\n10.  Transfer the aqueous phase using a wide-bore pipette tip (about 200ul) into a labeled clean plate (650 ul plate), add 150 ul of cold isopropanol (-20 °C), securely cover the plate with a plate cover (or cap strips) and mix gently by inverting the plate several times to precipitate DNA. \n\n11.  Recover the DNA by centrifuging at 5,700 rpm (6100g) for 10 min. Discard the supernatant immediately by suddenly inverting the plate and dry it briefly on several layers of paper towels by briefly touching the plate on paper towels two to three times on different positions of towel to remove excess liquid. This step should be very quick (a few seconds). Then turn the plate back upright and air-dry samples to remove excess liquid for ~10 min.\n\n12.  Add 500 ul of 70% Ethanol directly to the pellet, cover the plate, and invert it gently several times to wash  for 5 min. \n\n13.  Centrifuge at 5,700 rpm for 8 min, and quickly discard wash buffer as described previously (check DNA pellet in each well to make sure DNA stayed in the bottoms of wells\n\n14.  Air-dry DNA pellet at room temperature for ~20 mins to remove excess liquid.\n\n15.  Re-suspend the DNA pellet in 200 u1 of ddH2O and leave it at 4°C overnight \n\n16.  DNA concentration will be ~100ng /ul and can be determined using either an agarose gel or a spectrophotometer. \n\n \n\n                                                                            CTAB  DNA Isolation Buffer (500 ml) \n\n \n\n2% (w/v) CTAB (sigma)\n 10.0 g\n \n1.4M NaCI\n 40.91 g\n \n20 mM EDTA\n 20 m1 of 0.5 M EDTA \n \n100 mM Tris. HCI (pH 8.0)\n 50 ml of 1.0 M\n \nAdd ddH2O to make a final volume of 500 ml \n \n\n \n\nSDS Method \n\n1.      1-2 young leaves (~100mg) are placed in a labeled 1.1-ml collection tube or in a plate well, freeze-dried, and ground for 3-5 min at 30x/sec to a fine powder using a Mixer Mill and one 3-4mm steel bead in each well. (To isolate DNA from dry seeds, half to 3 seeds are wrapped with a weighing paper, crushed with pliers, placed in a col1ection tube or   in a deep-well plate ).\n\n2.      Preheat extraction buffer to 65°C in a water bath. (If the tissue samples are stored at -20°C, allow them to warm up to room temperature).\n\n3.      Add 0.2% (v/v) ß-mercap
919108
I'm a biology teacher, and a cell model is a project every year.\n\nUse a HARD beachball about the size of a basketball....or a cheap dimestore basket ball. Cut in in half and use thin wires to suspend the various organelles inside.
1136356
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid —usually in the form of a double helix— that contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of all cellular forms of life, and most viruses. DNA is a long polymer of nucleotides (a polynucleotide) and encodes the sequence of the amino acid residues in proteins using the genetic code, a triplet code of nucleotides.\nIn complex eukaryotic cells such as those from plants, animals, fungi and protists, most of the DNA is located in the cell nucleus. By contrast, in simpler cells called prokaryotes, including the eubacteria and archaea, DNA is not separated from the cytoplasm by a nuclear envelope. The cellular organelles known as chloroplasts and mitochondria also carry DNA.\nDNA is often referred to as the molecule of heredity as it is responsible for the genetic propagation of most inherited traits. In humans, these traits can range from hair colour to disease susceptibility. During cell division, DNA is replicated and can be transmitted to offspring during reproduction. Lineage studies can be done based on the facts that the mitochondrial DNA only comes from the mother, and the male Y chromosome only comes from the father.\nEvery person's DNA, their genome, is inherited from both parents. The mother's mitochondrial DNA together with twenty-three chromosomes from each parent combine to form the genome of a zygote, the fertilized egg. As a result, with certain exceptions such as red blood cells, most human cells contain 23 pairs of chromosomes, together with mitochondrial DNA inherited from the mother.\n\nMolecular structure:\nAlthough sometimes called "the molecule of heredity", DNA macromolecules as people typically think of them are not single molecules. Rather, they are pairs of molecules, which entwine like vines to form a double helix (see the illustration at the right).\nEach vine-like molecule is a strand of DNA: a chemically linked chain of nucleotides, each of which consists of a sugar (deoxyribose), a phosphate and one of five kinds of nucleobases ("bases"). Because DNA strands are composed of these nucleotide subunits, they are polymers.\nThe diversity of the bases means that there are five kinds of nucleotides, which are commonly referred to by the identity of their bases. These are adenine (A), thymine (T), uracil (U), cytosine (C), and guanine (G). U is rarely found in DNA except as a result of chemical degradation of C, but in some viruses, notably PBS1 phage DNA, U completely replaces the usual T in its DNA. Similarly, RNA usually contains U in place of T, but in certain RNAs such as transfer RNA, T is always found in some positions. Thus, the only true difference between DNA and RNA is the sugar, 2-deoxyribose in DNA and ribose in RNA.\nIn a DNA double helix, two polynucleotide strands can associate through the hydrophobic effect and pi stacking. Specificity of which strands stay associated is determined by complementary pairing. Each base forms hydrogen bonds readily to only one other, A to T forming two hydrogen bonds and C to G forming three hydrogen bonds. The GC content and length of each DNA molcule dictates the strength of the association; the more complementary bases exist, the stronger and longer-lasting the association characterised by the temperate required to break the hydrogen bonding, its Tm value.\nThe cell's machinery is capable of melting or disassociating a DNA double helix, and using each DNA strand as a template for synthesizing a new strand which is nearly identical to the previous strand. Errors that occur in the synthesis are known as mutations. The process known as PCR (polymerase chain reaction) mimics this process in vitro in a nonliving system.\nBecause pairing causes the nucleotide bases to face the helical axis, the sugar and phosphate groups of the nucleotides run along the outside; the two chains they form are sometimes called the "backbones" of the helix. In fact, it
57795
DNA is a chain of chemical "building blocks", called "bases", of which there are four types: these can be abbreviated A, T, C, and G. Each base can only "pair up" with one single predetermined other base: A+T, T+A, C+G and G+C are the only possible combinations; that is, an "A" on one strand of double-stranded DNA will "mate" properly only with a "T" on the other, complementary strand;\n\nA= Adenine\nT=Thymine\nC=Cytosine\nG=Guanine\n\nI got this from wikipedia
596737
That's sort of a broad request.  Are there any specific types of structures that you are looking for?  I know of a good site that has 3D models of proteins, structures derived from X-ray crystallography studies:\n\nhttp://www.pdb.org/pdb/advSearch.do\n\nJust chose 'structure description' as your 'query type' and enter the name of a protein into the search field.  They have quite an extensive database.\n\nThe Univ of Mass also has links to some other structures (DNA, antibodies, etc).  The images were generated by Chime, a powerful (and unfortunately not free) software program for generating 3D structures.\n\nhttp://www.umass.edu/microbio/rasmol/\n\nHope this helps!
128199
Yeah, well if you don't like your theology that way we'll return to the science. Helical structures recur at many levels in the structure of macromolecules: DNA is a right handed helix, and much of protein structure consists of alpha helices. Both B-DNA's and the alpha helix twist is right-handed, and this is dictated by the sterics of the structure. However, the components of DNA are difficult to make in a "primordial soup" model, and so it probably wasn't important in the creation of life. Most models favour an "RNA-world" - since RNA can be both a catalyst and a store of information. RNA forms helices in stem-loops which again tend to be right handed, but the structure is much looser and more variable than in DNA. Hence I'd say helicity isn't really that important. A more interesting question is the origin of the universal chirality of biolical amino acids...
79740
Would have to be a DNA molecule which can have 10^8 bases or 10^10 separate atoms.