Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026

High-Resolution Neutron Spectroscopy to Study Picosecond-Nanosecond Dynamics of Proteins and Hydration Water
Published on: April 28, 2022
Thermal denaturation of DNA studied with neutron scattering
Andrew Wildes1, Nikos Theodorakopoulos, Jessica Valle-Orero
1Institut Laue Langevin, Grenoble, France.
Abstract:
The melting transition of DNA, whereby the strands of the double-helix structure completely separate at a certain temperature, has been characterized using neutron scattering. A Bragg peak from B-form fiber DNA has been measured as a function of temperature, and its widths and integrated intensities have been interpreted using the Peyrard-Bishop-Dauxois model with only one free parameter. The experiment is unique, as it gives spatial correlation along the molecule through the melting transition where other techniques cannot.
Related Concept Videos
Protein Denaturation
The DNA Helix
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Variable-Temperature NMR

