Talk:DNA

M. F. Wilkins, Erwin Chargaff and Raymond Gosling's photos added

Not only Professor Wilkins's photo should be present but also

Professor Raymond Gosling's, Erwin Chargaff's, as well as the photos of Herbert Wilson. F.R.S. and Alex Stokes should also be present; however, the latter two were unavailable at this point for Wikipedia use, and if made available it is important that they also should be added because of their very important role played in the X-ray+molecular modeling analysis of DNA saga. Bci2 (talk) 4:26, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Slightly confusing introduction of base J concept

I'm a lay person and not a molecular biologist. I was confused with the introduction of base J (a thing new to me) in the second paragraph under the "Nucleobase Classification" heading. The second sentence there reads

"A modified form (beta-d-glucopyranosyloxymethyluracil) is also found in a number of organisms: the flagellates Diplonema and Euglena, and all the kinetoplastid genera[16] Biosynthesis of J occurs..."

I propose an appropriate editor substitute the following:

"'Base J', a modified form of uracil (beta-d-glucopyranosyloxymethyluracil), is also found in a number of organisms: the flagellates Diplonema and Euglena, and all the kinetoplastid genera.[16] Biosynthesis of J occurs..."

I think this introduces the concept in a way less like a riddle. The way it reads now, one is forced to guess that "J" is the abbreviation for this modified uracil (if that's what it is- is it more correct to say that it's a modified form of the T nucleoside, deoxythymidine?). Also "genera" should take a period. There is a stubby page for "Base_J" that might deserve a hyperlink here. Rt3368 (talk) 05:21, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Not being a molecular biologist myself, I agree. In the same vein, I am also unclear whether:

• beta-d-glucopyranosyloxymethyluracil, as used in the DNA page here,

is the same as

• Glucopyranosyloxymethyluracil, as used in the Base J page.

In the absence of any support, I will do a little research. If this can be confirmed then I will make the edits as you suggest, unless you wish to do that yourself. -- Jodon | Talk 10:18, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for looking into this. I would appreciate your making the change as I've suggested or with something similar, as you see fit. Rt3368 (talk) 06:46, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

I've made the changes. I also added a reference on the Base J page. Hope they won't get reverted too soon (I'm a pessimist). -- Jodon | Talk 12:04, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Rosalind Franklin

why is there no credit given to Rosalind Franklin? 21:50, 5 July 2013‎ User:82.26.207.27

enantiomeric DNA

Hi, one should mention that in nature only D-DNA occures. But one can sythetize L-DNA. http://nass.oxfordjournals.org/content/51/1/187.abstract --Biggerj1 (talk) 09:30, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

Chirality/Handedness of the DNA structure

I would suggest that the lede (at least) include a mention that DNA typically is found in a right-handed double-helix structure. There is a mention buried deep in the article about an alternative structure of DNA being left-handed, but it is not explicitly stated in the article that its (typical DNA's) chirality is right-handed. A very common (overwhelmingly so — an overwhelmingly dominant) mistake in DNA depictions is showing DNA as left-handed (which I am sure irks the hell out of people who know it as right-handed). The images are correct on the handedness (but I notice you have to look closely to see it with these illustrations as the choice in depiction method lends to an easy optical illusion where it can appear either way; closer examination shows the depiction can only be right handed). The lay person may not find it important, but it may lend information to the casual lay reader to inadvertently know the difference. Those in chemistry not familiar with the genetics field will particularly take note of such information (they understand handedness and its significance). — al-Shimoni (talk) 22:58, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

Type II errors

So, how many nucleotides are there? Do we just have A,G,C and T? Really? Are you sure? - kk — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.131.5.205 (talk) 04:37, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

Alternate DNA chemistry

The author confessed that he wrote the Arsenic DNA paper to expose flaws in peer-review at subscription based journals; see http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=1439

Please update the Alternate DNA chemistry section to reflect this.