double helix

noun, Biochemistry, Genetics.

the spiral arrangement of the two complementary strands of DNA.

Origin

1953; term introduced by J.D. Watson and F.H.C. Crick

Examples from the web for double helix

They didn't give her credit for her photographs that they took of the double helix.
It's made up of two matching spirals, known as the double helix.
Chemicals are then added and the temperature is lowered, allowing each strand to replicate itself and form a new double helix.
Their structure--an elegant double helix--almost merited such enthusiasm.
They point out that two wires become maximally twisted when no more rotations can be added with deforming the double helix.

British Dictionary definitions for double helix

double helix

noun

(biochem) the form of the molecular structure of DNA, consisting of two helical polynucleotide chains linked by hydrogen bonds and coiled around the same axis

double helix in Medicine

double helix n.
The coiled structure of a double-stranded DNA molecule in which strands linked by hydrogen bonds form a spiral configuration. Also called DNA helix, Watson-Crick helix.

double helix in Science

double helix
The three-dimensional structure of double-stranded DNA, in which polymeric nucleotide strands whose complementary nitrogen bases are linked by hydrogen bonds form a helical configuration. The two DNA strands are oriented in opposite directions.

double helix in Culture

double helix [(hee-liks)]

The shape taken by the DNA molecule. A helix is a three-dimensional spiral, like the shape of a spring or the railing on a spiral staircase. A DNA molecule consists of two helixes intertwined.