St. Andrews Class w/ Model

After I decided to get a model of DNA, I spent quite a bit of time researching it. I found this one pretty quickly, but kept looking. Finally, I decided to buy it. I am really glad I did. I have studied DNA for some time now, and putting this model together really brought things together in my head. Two dimensional drawings in books became a three dimensional representation right before my eyes. The major/minor grooves and how they are formed became much clearer. This is a cool model. The price is right, too. The less expensive models are fine but don't provide the detail this one does. In my view it was worth spending extra for more detail. Indigo says this is their best teaching model, and I agree. Indigo's service is stellar, too. My order was shipped immediately and arrived in good shape. The directions were fine if in need of some updating. Chris Bingleman helped me a lot-he is a credit to your company. He returned every email I sent, and quickly I might add. I talked with others at the company and was impressed. They care. If you want a really nice DNA model to put on display, this is a good one. I'd do it again.

This model is fantastic but is not for the faint of heart. I had students assemble it in class as part of our unit on nucleic acid structure. It took two classes, an occasional bored research group member, and an awful lot of quality control on my part to actually finish it! The most difficult part is figuring out what tubes to use for what bonds. It is of course obvious if one sits all of the different lengths next to one another along with a description of the different bond lengths in DNA, but some of the tubes are close enough in length that they were initially used interchangeably by the students. The model is accurate enough that if the wrong bond lengths are used for any pieces, it doesn't fit together correctly. That was a good teaching moment:-) Once we got that figured out, it was smooth sailing. The model is ideal for teaching everything from base pairing to major and minor grooves. Besides, it looks pretty cool in my office. I'd buy it again.