Building a better helix

We do have a build-your-own-DNA model in the lab. Sadly, its very old, the instructions have long since gone missing and when I did try to figure it out, most of the pieces didn't seem to fit together. It also looked like some discarded lengths of electrical wiring and broken bits of childrens' necklaces, so I've long been searching for an alternative.

Now I love Molymod and I use it extensively when teaching the foundations of biochemistry (water, glucose, amino acids and condensation reactions) but it can be hard on the fingers. When we were at the Newcastle Makers' Faire earlier this year, we saw the Zometool stand and all of their interesting kits. Sadly, at that time, they weren't easily available in the UK (which was really disappointing as they seemed to have exactly what I was looking for).

I was therefore seriously chuffed to see that there is now a Zometool UK site and that they had the DNA kit. Its pretty simple to put together (although some of the digitally generated images are a little confusing) and the fact sheet is pitched well at an introductory level without feeling dumbed down.

The customer service was good, and even though they said it might take a while, it actually arrived far more quickly than they thought. Postage and packing was a little pricey, but the kit quality is high and its certainly less painful on the fingers than an extended session with Molymod.


In all, the model is approximately 39cm (15") tall and 16cm (6.5") wide.

Even though the UK site doesn't have the full catalogue of kits on it, they are willing to get hold of kits on request, so I will probably be getting a Biochemistry kit to road test. I definitely intend to get the DNA kit for my students (so we can see just how tall a DNA molecule we can build), and fingers crossed the Biochemistry kit will be just as informative and useful.