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How to Build a Model of DNA Out of Wood

Model DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, for your biology class. DNA, frequently called the "building block of life," is the genetic blueprint from which the development and functioning of living organisms unfolds. DNA consists of two long polymers, consisting of sugars and phosphates joined by ester bonds, with phosphate bases attached to the sugars. In modeling a double helix structure, use craft sticks, representing ester bonds, to connect wood beads of different colors and sizes. One size class represents the four phosphate bases, adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine. The other size class represents sugars.

Paint (four colors)
Small wood beads
Larger wood beads
Craft sticks
Long wooden dowel
Wood glue

Instructions

- 1
  Paint the smaller wood beads in four different colors to represent adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine. These are the four phosphate bases in DNA: adenine pairs with thymine and guanine pairs with cytosine.
- 2
  Paint the larger wood beads in two different colors to represent the sugars and phosphates.
- 3
  Thread the wood beads on craft sticks. The order should be: phosphate group, sugar, base pair, sugar, phosphate group. Be sure to pair adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine.
- 4
  Glue threaded craft sticks, down the center (in the middle of the phosphate base pair) to a sturdy wooden dowel. To create a three-dimensional, "double-helix" structure, glue the first craft stick at 0 degrees to the horizontal surface in front of you. Glue the next one at 15 degrees counterclockwise, the subsequent one at 30 degrees counterclockwise, and so forth to create the twisting effect for which DNA is well known.

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