Origami DNA
This hands-on activity allows you to create your own paper model of a DNA double helix.
DNA has a ‘double helix’ structure. Much like a spiral staircase, it has two single strands that join and twist together. The ‘steps’ of the staircase are made up of the four bases of DNA (adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine). These bind together in complementary pairs (A with T, C with G).
This activity explores the structure of DNA in a paper-based form. You can also use the blank version to explore the pairing rules of DNA, by colouring in each base pair using the pairing rules printout.