Take two pieces of string that are approximately 10 inches long,and create a double helix by wrapping them around each other tomake 10 complete turns. Tape one end of the strings to a table, andnow twist the strings three times (360° each time) in a righthanded direction. Note: As you are looking down at the stringsfrom above, a right-handed twist is in the clockwise direction.A. Did the three turns create more or fewer turns in your doublehelix? How many turns does your double helix have after youtwisted it?B. Is your double helix right-handed or left-handed? Explain youranswer.C. Did the three turns create any supercoils?D. If you had coated your double helix with rubber cement andallowed the cement to dry before making the three additionalright-handed turns, would the rubber cement make it more orless likely for the three turns to create supercoiling? Would apair of cemented strings be more or less like a real DNA doublehelix than an uncemented pair of strings? Explain your answer
Take two pieces of string that are approximately 10 inches long,
and create a double helix by wrapping them around each other to
make 10 complete turns. Tape one end of the strings to a table, and
now twist the strings three times (360° each time) in a righthanded direction. Note: As you are looking down at the strings
from above, a right-handed twist is in the clockwise direction.
A. Did the three turns create more or fewer turns in your double
helix? How many turns does your double helix have after you
twisted it?
B. Is your double helix right-handed or left-handed? Explain your
answer.
C. Did the three turns create any supercoils?
D. If you had coated your double helix with rubber cement and
allowed the cement to dry before making the three additional
right-handed turns, would the rubber cement make it more or
less likely for the three turns to create supercoiling? Would a
pair of cemented strings be more or less like a real DNA double
helix than an uncemented pair of strings? Explain your answer
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