Your genes know the power of attraction
Chemists discover “genetic telepathy”
Stuck on you. DNA double helices with identical nucleotide sequences draw together, spontaneously.
Bits of identical DNA, separated by water only, will draw together–but only if they are the same, according to chemists at the Imperial College of London.
The ICL chemists do not know how the identical double helices recognize each other. They suggest that the curvature of the helices, being a match, might stress the medium between them in a way that brings them together.
Electrostatic charges might also be responsible for this DNA “telepathy.”
DNA Double Helices Recognize Mutual Sequence Homology in a Protein Free Environment
We have observed spontaneous segregation of the two kinds of DNA within each spherulite, which reveals that nucleotide sequence recognition occurs between double helices separated by water in the absence of proteins, consistent with our earlier theoretical hypothesis. We thus report experimental evidence and discuss possible mechanisms for the recognition of homologous DNAs from a distance.
– Mark Baard
