Scientists Capture Most Detailed Pic Of A Single Human DNA Molecule

A team of scientists have managed to capture the highest resolution images of a single molecule of DNA which shows atoms dancing as they move.

This marvellous feat was achieved by the researchers from Sheffield, Leeds and York universities.

Alice Payne et al/University of Sheffield/University of Leeds/University of York

This is according to a study by Nature Communications. They combined advanced atomic microscopy with supercomputer simulations to create these videos of dancing DNA molecules.

The footage is revolutionary as it shows in never-before-seen detail how a DNA is stressed or strained when it¡¯s crammed inside cells that can change its shape. Initially, scientists could only see DNA using microscopes -- that too just static images. But with a video, it brings new revelations, offering a better understanding of how an atom moves.

The images are detailed to an extent that you can even see the double-helical structure of the DNA. However, researchers were able to fuse this with every single atom in the DNA with the help of simulations.

To put things into perspective, a human body contains nearly about two metres long DNA in it. However, to fit through the body it forms curves and twists. This indicates that loopy DNA is present everywhere in the genome. Researchers looked for the DNA minicircles that indicate joining of both ends resulting in the formation of a loop.

This loop allowed researchers to offer an additional twist to the DNA minicircles making them move more vigorously. Researchers saw that when the DNA was in a relaxed state, it didn¡¯t move as much. Twisting it, however, it became more active, adopting a variety of shapes.

These dance moves are essentially key to finding binding partners for the DNA as the adoption of a wider range of shapes, it allows for a greater variety of other molecules to find it attractive.

Studying DNA in such detail could help in the development of new gene therapies with the help of twisted and compacted DNA circles that can easily make way into the cells.

Alice Payne et al/University of Sheffield/University of Leeds/University of York

Dr Alice Pyne, Lecturer in Polymers & Soft Matter at the University of Sheffield, who captured the footage, explained, ¡°Seeing is believing, but with something as small as DNA, seeing the helical structure of the entire DNA molecule was extremely challenging. The videos we have developed enable us to observe DNA twisting in a level of detail that has never been seen before.¡±

Professor Lynn Zechiedrich from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas, USA, who was also part of the discovery team, added, ¡°They show, with remarkable detail, how wrinkled, bubbled, kinked, denatured, and strangely shaped they are which we hope to be able to control someday.¡±