In geometry a double helix typically consists of two congruent helices with the same axis, differing by a translation along the axis, which may or may not be half-way.In molecular biology, the double helix refers to the structure of DNA. The double-helix model of DNA structure was first published in the journal Nature by James D. Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 based upon the crucial X-ray diffraction image of DNA from Rosalind Franklin in 1952.
The DNA double helix is a right-handed spiral polymer of nucleic acids, held together by nucleotides which base pair together. A single turn of the helix constitutes ten nucleotides. The double helix structure of DNA contains a major groove and minor groove, many proteins which bind to DNA do so through the wider major groove.
