[LMMojo]

Does this mean DNA is not really a double helix? It gets twisted because of the method of extraction?

[bglazer]

The DNA strand is a double helix, but it also “supercoils”. Imagine a rope thats stretched taught. Even the straight rope has twisted braids. Thats akin to the DNA double helix. Then imagine twisting the rope until it starts to bunch and twist up on itself. That’s the supercoil. Of course the superstructure of DNA even more complex and dynamic than that

[amelius]

I always wonder why DNA never turns itself into a hard-to-undo knot (which is what invariably happens with headphone wires). Are these twists helping with that?