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Nature 444, 553-555 (30 November 2006) | doi:10.1038/444553a; Published online 29 November 2006

Chemical biology: A broader take on DNA

Aaron M. Leconte1 & Floyd E. Romesberg1

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Slipping in extra benzene rings creates a broader DNA double helix that is similar to, but different from, natural DNA. Importantly, it can encode more genetic information — and that could have wide implications.

Compared with proteins, which can have any number of jumbled forms, the DNA double helix — that most famous of nature's molecular structures1— is comfortingly regular. Over the past few years, however, Eric Kool and his colleagues have re-engineered this predictable duplex, producing an 'expanded' version that they call xDNA2.

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