DNA Directly Photographed For First Time

Summary:
Italian scientist Enzo Di Fabrizio has taken a photo of DNA with an electron microscope. Di Fabrizio teaches physics at an Italian university. DNA is hard to directly photograph, so Di Fabrizio and his collegues built a "nanoscopic landscape" made of silicon pillars, which repel water. They then added a water-based solution with DNA in it, and the water evaporated. The DNA was left on the silicon pillars, and the scientists used electron beams to visualize and photograph the DNA. This is different from the technique developed by Rosalind Franklin, who used x-rays bouncing off of the DNA to identify the double helix shape. The pictures actually show several strands of DNA that were woven together, because a single double helix would've been destroyed by the high-powered electrons used to visualize the DNA. Technological advances may enable double helices to be individually photographed someday. This discovery may allow people to see how DNA strands interact with each other and other genetic materials. 

Relevance: 
We learned about DNA in class during our genetics unit, and how x-ray crystallography was used by Watson and Crick to discover the double helix shape. We also talked briefly about Rosalind Franklin, her work, and how it was used in the future. Hopefully, this technology will improve and become more widely available, so schools could use it in Biology classes.

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/dna-directly-photographed-first-time-193138553.html
11/30/12 - Taken from NanoLetters; written by Eli MacKinnon