This is the story behind the discovery of polynucleotide hybridization. In the early 1950s, the double helix structure of DNA had just been published, however, the structure of RNA was still unknown. Alexander Rich and his colleagues were investigating this question without much success until Rich combined polyadenylic acid and polyuridylic acid and, to his amazement, saw the diffraction pattern of a double helix. He realized that the base pairs had undergone hybridization to form a double stranded RNA structure. In the intervening 60 years, hybridization has become the foundation of much of modern biotechnology.
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The Discovery of Polynucleotide Hybridization
Alexander Rich talks about the discovery and story of how polynucleotide hybridization has become the foundation of much of modern biotechnology. (Talk recorded in July 2014)
Audience:
- Student
- Researcher
- Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 14:32