DNA modelDNA modelDNA Structure

An Interactive Animated Nonlinear Tutorial by Eric Martz
Adapted to J(S)mol by Angel Herráez
Part of the Biomodel website by Angel Herráez, Univ. de Alcalá (Spain)

A. Double helix by element: base pairs, hydrogen bonding
DNA pairs
DNA pairs
B. The Code
DNA code
Explanation of codons and anticodons
C. Strands and helical backbone
DNA strands
D. Ends, Antiparallelism
DNA ends
Mirrored in the USA at Eric Martz's site.

This tutorial is designed to complement Biology or Biochemistry and Molecular Biology books, so it is not by itself a complete introduction to DNA structure.

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  3. This tutorial is designed to complement an introduction to DNA, by providing tools for a self-directed exploration. It does not tell a story (but does offer questions for students and a lesson plan for teachers). As a preamble to the tutorial below, or for a story that introduces DNA structure with interactive molecular graphics, we recommend
  4. The Animated Interactive Tutorial Pages (A, B, C, D): please visit the 4 sections in the colored panels.
  5. Questions for Students and a Lesson Plan for Teachers.
    More Molecules for High School Teachers.
  6. more on DNA More DNA Resources includes tutorials for high school students, college freshmen, interactive Shockwave simulations of agarose gel electrophoresis to learn about electrical charge of DNA, cutting with restriction endonucleases, etc.

Methods, Acknowledgements, and References.

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This DNA Tutorial is being used in the Biomedical Sciences Curriculum developed by Project Lead The Way, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation that provides curriculum at no charge to high schools and middle schools located in the United States.

This DNA Tutorial (English and Spanish versions) was included in BioMolecular Explorer 3D, version 2, a website+CD-ROM designed to give high school biology teachers easy access to interactive 3D structures of biologically significant molecules.

This DNA Tutorial (English and Spanish versions) was included in the live bootable DVD – Xplora Knoppix, by Xplora - The European Science Education Gateway.


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