General Model for the Chromosomes of Higher Organisms

General Model for the Chromosomes of Higher Organisms

Contributor(s):
Crick, Francis, 1916-2004
Nature
Publication:
Nature Publishing Group, 5 November 1971
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Genre(s):
Archival Materials
Articles
Abstract:
Crick here proposed a general model for the structure of chromosomes in higher eukaryotic cells. His model was designed to account for discoveries made during the 1960s that most of the DNA in higher organisms did not code for proteins but carried out genetic control functions, and that chromosomal DNA was most often associated with proteins, mainly histones, rather than in its pure double-helical form. Crick's model posited that chromosomal DNA consisted of "bands" of highly folded, unpaired single-stranded segments of double-stranded DNA, which carried out control functions. In between these stretches of "globular" DNA were much shorter stretches of "fibrous" DNA, similarly unpaired and single-stranded but extended and not folded, which coded for proteins.
Copyright:
This item may be under copyright protection; contact the copyright owner for permission before re-use.
Extent:
3 pages
NLM Unique ID:
101584582X434 (See in Profiles in Science)
Profiles in Science ID:
SCBCCM
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101584582X434
Archival Collection:
The Francis Crick Papers (Profiles in Science)