Stretch Genes

FEB 01, 1997

By unraveling individual DNA molecules under the microscope physicistsare learing about the elastic properties that are important to DNA’s function.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881674

Robert H. Austin

James P. Brody

Edward C. Cox

Thomas Duke

Wayne Volkmuth

Polymers—macromolecules composed of many small molecules—are vital to life. For example, proteins provide the cell with structure and carry out its mechanical and enzymatic work. Fatty acids store energy in their bonds, and lipids form the membranes that seal off the cell’s aqueous interior from its aqueous exterior. Heredity lies in the very long polymeric strands of deoxyribonucleic acid—DNA.

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More about the authors

Robert H. Austin, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.

James P. Brody, University of Washington, Seattle.

Edward C. Cox, Princeton.

Thomas Duke, University of Cambridge, England.

Wayne Volkmuth, Stanford University, Stanford, California.