The Double Helix in Retrospect: A Critique of Available Evidence

This short review commentary deals with the evidence for the DNA double helix and raises the intriguing question: does it exist to any significant extent in the solution phase? Well past the sixtieth year of its discovery via X-ray diffraction, the DNA double helix has now acquired the status of a sacred truth, with a large area of modern science revolving around it. This paper presents the pros and cons of the double helix from a physico-chemical perspective, although with critical inputs from chemical biology as appropriate.