{"id":121472,"date":"2017-12-19T11:54:06","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T10:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e52.nl\/?p=121472"},"modified":"2017-12-19T11:54:06","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T10:54:06","slug":"researchers-tue-vu-discover-hyperstretched-dna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/researchers-tue-vu-discover-hyperstretched-dna\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers of TU\/e and VU discover hyperstretched DNA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam discovered a new form of DNA. If you pull hard enough on DNA, it suddenly turns out to be able to unfold to a shape that is twice as long. They have given the name ‘hyperstretched DNA’ to this new form. Their theoretical model predicted the existence of this and an experiment provided the final proof. Today the work is published in the magazine Nature Communications<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A theoretical model of researchers from the TU\/e  gave the first indication of the existence of this form of DNA. At that time graduate Koen Schakenraad wanted to describe earlier measurements of DNA stretching by the VU. “We managed to do that but, to our surprise, our model also predicted another, quite unfamiliar form of DNA, a full two times longer than normal,” says Paul van der Schoot, one of the researchers at the TU\/e.<\/p>\n

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Their VU Amsterdam-based colleagues went looking for this new state, hoping to confirm it in experiments by using a combination of force- and fluorescence microscopy. \u201cIt\u2019s like having microscopic hands and eyes,\u201d says Iddo Heller, one of the researchers from the VU Amsterdam. \u201cYou pull<\/em> on a single DNA molecule, and you immediately see<\/em> what is happening.\u201d By quite literally lighting up the DNA, they were able to show that the new state actually exists. <\/span>\u201cTo stretch DNA we use fluorescent molecules called intercalators that connect to the DNA between the basepairs,\u201d explains Heller. \u201cThese molecules light up under the microscope. So, in the normal state of the DNA without intercalators, the image is dark. The more the DNA stretches and the more intercalators become attached, the more the image lights up. In the end, a doubling of the light intensity provided the evidence for the new state that we were looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Whether the double length-DNA is actually present in the cell is uncertain. \u201cBut the discovery may well be able to provide more clarity on how DNA actually stretches in the cell nucleus –  plenty of questions still remain about this,\u201d says Van der Schoot. The results may also prove relevant to the relatively new field of \u2018DNA origami\u2019, \u201cwhere researchers \u2018tinker\u2019 with DNA on the basis of its mechanical properties, for example, to make new materials,\u201d says Heller. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Van der Schoot believes that this discovery once again highlights the importance of fundamental research. \u201cAlmost all applied research has a fundamental component. In this case, it was the theory that prompted this discovery.\u201d Heller speaks of \u201cone of the most enjoyable collaborations between theoretical and experimental physicists. It completes the circle,\u201d he says. \u201cIt began with an observation, which was followed by a theory. That theory made predictions that we were subsequently able to confirm through an observation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Photo: Iddo Heller<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam discovered a new form of DNA. If you pull hard enough on DNA, it suddenly turns out to be able to unfold to a shape that is twice as long. They have given the name ‘hyperstretched DNA’ to this new form. Their theoretical model […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1632,"featured_media":522497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[132,2519],"location":[],"article_type":[],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-121472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability-nl","tag-tue","tag-tue-en"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam have discovered a new form of DNA.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Frans van Beveren","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/frans-van-beveren\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/1115-9aa148b41eb8b024e58323a08f6e95a1-300x210.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Sustainability<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Sustainability<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["TU\/e<\/a>","TU\/e<\/a>"],"unlinked":["TU\/e<\/span>","TU\/e<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 8 years ago","modified":"Updated 8 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on December 19, 2017","modified":"Updated on December 19, 2017"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on December 19, 2017 11:54 am","modified":"Updated on December 19, 2017 11:54 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1632"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121472"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=121472"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=121472"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=121472"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=121472"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=121472"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=121472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}