A new study could explain why DNA and not RNA, its older chemical cousin, is the repository of genetic information. The DNA double helix is a more forgiving molecule that can contort itself into ...

Because of the near geometric identity of Watson-Crick (W-C) G·C and A·T base pairs, a given DNA polymerase forms the four possible correct base pairs with nearly identical catalytic efficiencies.

The majority of base pairs in double-stranded DNA exist in the canonical Watson-Crick geometry. However, they can also adopt alternate Hoogsteen conformations in various complexes of DNA with proteins ...

Billions of years ago, when the Earth was in its infancy and biology hadn't even gotten going, the precursors to the first living organisms were probably self-replicating strands of RNA. Scientists ...