Editing 2690: Cool S

{{comic
| number    = 2690
| date      = October 26, 2022
| title     = Cool S
| image     = cool_s_2x.png
| imagesize = 325x327px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = Although I hear they were caught cheating off of Rosalind, who sat at a desk in front of them.
}}

==Explanation==

The '{{w|Cool S}}' is a stylized drawing of the letter "S". It is a popular doodle among teenagers and pre-teens as it can be quickly hashed out using six vertical lines which are then connected with an appropriate pattern of diagonal lines. The drawing has been around for a very long time, and may be independently discovered simply because it is a logical progression of combining a series of straight lines in an interesting manner.

Randall first draws the steps to make the Cool S. Then he draws a chain of repeats of this pattern, excluding the end caps, making something that looks like a twisted rope. Finally he separates the two strands and adds cross bars, creating something that turns out to have a visual similarity to the discovered helical structure of {{w|DNA}}.  However, although the final diagram is a double helix, the chirality, or "handedness", is backwards: an actual DNA molecule usually winds in the opposite direction (clockwise, if you're looking at it end-on). (The tutorial at [http://realerthinks.com/correctly-draw-dna/ How to (correctly) draw DNA] describes this in more detail.) It is possible for left-handed DNA segments, called Z-DNA, to form in purine-pyrimidine alternating regions; but this is much less common than the more typical conformations of B-DNA and A-DNA. (B-DNA is the most common and is elongated with accentuated major grooves: see {{w|Nucleic acid structure}}. This asymmetry can be seen in the spacing between strand segments, which alternates between short and long distances, as opposed to A-DNA and Z-DNA where these distances are much more uniform.)

He posits that the helical shape of DNA was originally discovered when somebody decided to doodle this extended S pattern. 

Understanding the shape of the DNA molecule was an important step towards understanding how it duplicates itself and serves as a template for RNA. In real life, {{w|Francis Crick}} and {{w|James Watson}} were awarded a Nobel Prize for this discovery.

The title text is a reference to {{w|Rosalind Franklin}}, who made a material contribution to the discovery of DNA but was [https://web.archive.org/web/20160927113256/http://www.biomath.nyu.edu/index/course/hw_articles/nature4.pdf controversially not included in the Nobel Prize]. Many are quick to assume she was excluded simply due to sexism, although she had also been dead for five years and Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously, regardless of the nature of the contribution. Franklin's boss at the time of the discovery, {{w|Maurice Wilkins}}, was also named on the prize. Wilkins had shared some of Franklin's data with Watson, who then shared what he saw with Crick. None of the three men ever told Franklin that Watson and Crick had based their model on her data.

This account is reminiscent of how {{W|August Kekulé}} said he identified the ring structure of the benzene molecule. He claimed to have had a dream in which the atoms were moving around, with the last grabbing onto the first like the classic image of a snake grabbing its tail, forming a ring of six lines.

==Transcript==
:[10 drawings evolving from simple dashes, to a "cool S" symbol, to a representation of DNA. Unless otherwise stated, each drawing adds to the previous drawing]
:First drawing -  three vertical lines side by side over three equally sized vertical lines
:Second drawing - Two diagonal lines added from the bottom of the top left line to the top of the bottom middle line, and the bottom of the top middle line to the top of the bottom right line
:Third drawing - Four diagonal lines added from the top of the top left line and top right line, and the bottom of the bottom right line and bottom left line. The two lines at the top meet above the top middle line, at a 90 degree angle. The two lines at the bottom meet below the bottom middle line, at a 90 degree angle, making an incomplete "Cool S", missing two lines.
:Fourth drawing - Two diagonal lines added. One from top of the bottom left line, pointing towards the bottom of the top middle line; it stops halfway where it intersects with the line between the top of the bottom middle line and the bottom of the top left line drawn in the second drawing. One from bottom of the top right line, pointing towards the top of the bottom middle line; it stops halfway where it intersects with the line between the bottom of the top middle line and the top of the bottom right line drawn in the second drawing. forming a complete "Cool S"
:Fifth drawing - Resets the last few steps and is the same as the second drawing.
:Sixth drawing (located under the first drawing, making a new line of drawings) -  The lines from the fifth drawing remain present and untouched, but there are now three vertical lines side by side above and below, with  a gap left between them and the previous lines.
:Seventh drawing - The pattern between the middle two sets of three lines established in the second drawing is repeated above and below, such that for each pair of three lines, Two diagonal lines are added from the bottom of the top left line to the top of the bottom middle line, and from the bottom of the top middle line to the top of the bottom right line
:Eighth drawing -  The pattern between the middle two sets of three lines established in the fourth drawing is both reimplemented, and repeated in the upper and lower two sets of lines. One from top of the bottom left line, pointing towards the bottom of the top middle line; it stops halfway where it intersects with the line between the top of the bottom middle line and the bottom of the top left line drawn in the second drawing. One from bottom of the top right line, pointing towards the top of the bottom middle line; it stops halfway where it intersects with the line between the bottom of the top middle line and the top of the bottom right line drawn in the second drawing.
:Ninth drawing - 
:Tenth drawing - 

:[Caption below the panel]:
:The structure of DNA was originally discovered by a group of especially cool middle school researchers.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]