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X-ray diffraction data collected by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins helped Watson and Crick solve the structure of DNA. Which aspect structure of DNA did the data help them solve?

Athe double-stranded nature of the helix and its dimensions
Bthe ratio of bases
Cthe presence of deoxirybose sugars
DThe presence of hydrogen bonds between bases

Verified Answer :

AThe double - stranded nature structure of the helix and its dimensions

The correct answer is option (A) the double-stranded nature of the helix and its dimensions.

Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins used a method of X-ray crystallography to investigate the structure of the DNA. It was a diffraction method and the scattering pattern of the X-ray was recorded on a film and used to elucidate details of molecular structure of the DNA. From the scattering pattern produced by the DNA molecule, they could infer the double helical nature of the DNA molecule and the arrangement of phosphates. They took the x-ray diffraction photograph of DNA known as the “photograph 51” depicting the double helix. By using this data about the double helical nature of the DNA, James Watson and Francis Crick proposed the structure of DNA in 1953.

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