While James Watson and Francis Crick were trying to determine the structure of D

Question

While James Watson and Francis Crick were trying to determine the structure of DNA, Linus Pauling published his thoughts about the molecular arrangement (Pauling and Corey, 1953). He placed the phosphates at the interior of the helix, with the bases facing outward (probably so that the information was accessible to the cellular machinery). Give two reasons why this arrangement is unsatisfactory in light of what we now know. Hint: Think about the evidence Watson and Crick needed to determine the structure of DNA. (2pts)

Explanation / Answer

The structure of DNA proposed by the great scientist Linus Pauling involves three intertwined helical polynucleotide chan. The structure was triple helix with the phosphate present in the middle and the bases were radiating outwards. This structure was unsatisfactory because it was unable to satisfy the observation by Chargaff. The Chargaff's observation defines that abundance of A in the DNA is nearly equals to T, and C equals to G. This structure also unable to explain the biology and replication of the DNA. Whereas, the DNA model proposed by the Watson and Crick explain all the given aspects.

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