For the very first time, scientists have managed to directly photograph DNA itself using electron microscopy.
Until now, researchers have had to rely on X-ray crystallography – a technique that scatters atoms off of the atoms in crystallized arrays of DNA, which then form a pattern of dots on photographic film. Interpreting these can be difficult, and the complex mathematics involved is partly why is took so long for us to work out the double helix structure of DNA.
With this new technique, it’s possible to capture the famous double helix directly.