First Helical Structure in the Nano-world

摘要

Although a commonplace structure in nature, the helix remains a mystery to scientific researchers. In biology, the structure is important as DNA is helical and so does the substructure of many proteins. Since its discovery more than 50 years ago, the double helix has offered an important approach to interpret and make use of bio-organic structures. Yet, it is seldom to see a helical structure formed by inorganic crystal-state materials. Recently a previously-unknown zinc oxide nanostructure that resembles the helical configuration of DNA has been brought about by a research team headed by Prof. WANG Zhong Lin, a researcher concurrently working for the Georgia Institute of Technology in US, Peking University and the CAS National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) in China. Hailed as an exciting event in the field, their work was reported in the September 9 issue of the journal Science.