Describe the kinetics of DNA hybridization
Nanoscientists and theoretical physicists at EMBL Australia’s Node in Single Molecule Science UNSW Medicine & Health have teamed up to uncover the intricate mechanisms that govern how quickly two matched DNA strands can fully unite – or hybridize – to form double-stranded DNA. Their findings were published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. A theory was put forward about 50 years ago that hypothesized that how fast a DNA strand hybridizes is determined by the initial contact that leads to further binding of the matching base strand to the DNA strand – called nucleation interactions. Until now, this theory has never been proven due to the many complexities surrounding DNA biology. “There are a large number of pathways by which two completely separate strands can bind to each other. Standing DNA doesn’t come together into a fully hybridized duplex in an instant. At some point, only two or three base pairs will spontaneously combine. This is a nucleation event,” said Associat