Computer simulation of carbonless DNA prompt researchers to consider alternative biochemistries

Structure

Source: © Piotr Skurski/University of Gdansk

Researchers swap nitrogen and boron into DNA to create analogues that are geometrically and electrostatically equivalent to conventional DNA

A computational study has replaced the carbon in cytosine, guanine, adenine, thymine and deoxyribose with nitrogen and boron to understand what carbonless DNA might be like. The study generated a set of structures that were deemed geometrically and electrostatically comparable to conventional DNA molecules.