Why does it matter that DNA has a double helical structure?

Question

I understand that it makes it easy for DNA to self-replicate, but why is it important that we know this? Would the world be any worse for wear if we still had no idea?

In: Biology

Answer 1

It’s not the fact that it’s a double helix that’s particularly important, it’s the fact that we know it’s a double helix. The helical structure does come into play in various ways that proteins interact with DNA, but if it happened that that organisation of molecules produced say, a flat tape-like thing instead of a helix, it would still probably be functional, as proteins would just have evolved to interact with flat DNA instead of helical DNA.