Influence of Deoxyribonucleic Acid on the Intermolecular Structure of Water

Abstract

SEVERAL years ago Jacobson¹ directed attention to the fact that the helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) proposed by Watson and Crick² showed a remarkable relationship to the intermolecular structure of liquid water, which has been postulated to be quasi-crystalline and only slightly different from ice³. Jacobson proposed that when DNA is dissolved in water, an increased ordering of the water structure results and further suggested this increased ordering of the intermolecular water structure accounts for the high viscosity and dielectric constant of DNA solutions. In later work Jacobson et al.⁴ studied the proton resonance spectra of DNA solutions and interpreted the results of their experiments as offering further support of the above-mentioned proposals. Jacobson⁵ then made a detailed study of the dielectric constants of DNA solutions and interpreted the results as further evidence of stabilization of the normal water structure by the formation of hydration shells with diameters at least one-quarter the length of the dissolved macromolecules; he also cited certain X-ray studies⁶ for further support of his hypothesis. The sodium salt of deoxyribonucleic acid (sodium thymonucleate) was used in all Jacobson's experimental work.