DNA, as we have known, from documentaries and sci-fi movies, is based on a double helix structure. However, scientists and biologists have known that a quadruple helix-structure exists, especially in cancer cells. In the past, attempts to learn the origins and function of these quadruple helix involved using a probe which either killed the cell (and eventually the DNA being studied) or interacted with the cell being probed providing skewed reading. For the first time ever, a research team from the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and Leeds University have invented a fluorescent marker that is able to attach to G4s (quadruple helix DNA) in living human cells, allowing them to see how the structure forms and what role it plays in cells. This has the potential to open up new avenues in diagnosis and therapy of diseases like cancer. More importantly this has challenged the status quo of DNA structure since established in 1953, and forces us to rethink the biology of DNA.
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girish nair 