hi there, i am trying to get hold of a 'dna strand' object (preferrably in .obj format). i have found a couple on a site called http://www.3dcadbrowser.com - quite good except hoping to find something a bit cheaper (scrooge eh?!). any help would be appreciated. the site i have mentioned is actually quite good except i suspect some of the models uploaded are poser rip-offs. thanks mike

Attached Link: http://www.runtimedna.com

There is a "techno" dna strand at RDNA's freestuff, i'm sure you can export it out from poser as an obj. I'm not sure if you will be allowed to use commercially might want to check it out.

I did this one a while ago to fill a private request. If it will work for you let me know & I can email the file over (222K obj format)

The Tech Museum in San Jose had a huge DNA strand made out of telephone books from floor to tall ceiling. Cooler's is quite a bit prettier! Carolly

Are you just looking for template DNA or the DNA in the scaffold structure? ;)

hmm... the telephone book one sure sounds interesting!! for some reason i thought dna strands involved spheres?? perhaps a bit more research is needed.

You're thinking of the ball-and-stick model for much simplier chemical compounds. The template DNA strand is depicted as a twisted ladder. Across are the base pyrimidines and purine pairs (A-T and C-G). The bases are supported by a sugar phosphate backbone. There are 2 bonds between A & T and 3 between C & G. As a result, you wind up with major and minor grooves. Then there is the whole mess with nucleosomes, histone proteins, and the non-histone proteins so that the DNA can be compacted and uncompacted. ARGG! the forensic science grad student will now shut up to prevent brain overload

who needs to research when i can comprehensive answers like that!! thanks papabluemartin i think i was thinking a combination of the two!!