Science / Medicine : 3-D Images of DNA Released

The first direct images of the double-helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) were released by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The three-dimensional images, magnified 1 million times, support recent evidence that DNA exists in several different variations of the helically wound shape.

The images were made with a scanning tunneling microscope, and the researchers believe that even higher resolution can be obtained, perhaps high enough to reveal the identity of each of the individual chemicals that make up DNA. If so, the technique could possibly be used in the human genome initiative, in which investigators hope to identify each of the 3 billion individual chemicals in human DNA.