- Stand Assembly

The MagDNA stand is made from the following parts: 4 stand magnets, 2 dowels, and 2 wood circles.

Tools: You may need a rubber mallet to pound the magnets or dowels in the wood circles. (A hard shoe may work, too! Be sure to protect the finish of the stand.) The magnets and dowels need to be pounded securely in order to have the proper distance between the stand magnets.

Step 1. Push or pound (with a rubber mallet) two magnets into the small holes in each wood circle.
Important! Make sure you have opposite magnetic poles pointing out of the circles.
Step 2. Push or pound one end of the two dowels into the larger holes on one circle.
Step 3. Attach the second circle by aligning the large holes with the other end of the dowels and pounding into place with your fist or a rubber mallet.

Make sure you push (or pound) the dowels and stand magnets all the way to the bottom of their holes. The precise distance between stand magnets (between the top and bottom) should be 6 7/8 inches (17.3 cm).

- DNA on Display

Follow these directions to put your DNA on display. You will not need phosphates at the end of the strands. The sugars (steel balls) attach directly to the magnetic rods on the stand. Make sure the polarity of the magnetic base-pairs (bp) are such that the strands make the strongest possible connection to the rods on the stand (see hint below). You may need to flip the end base-pair to optimize the magnetic connections to the top and bottom rods of the stand. Attach your DNA to the upper rods. While the ladder is hanging down, twist the left side of the ladder away from you, starting at the top base-pair (bp). Move down the bp ladder, slightly twisting the left side of each bp away from you until you have twisted the entire strand by almost a complete rotation (315°). DNA Display Hint: To make the most stable double helix, match up the polarities of the magnets as in the figure. If the stand magnet pole is N, then the two magnets from the base and phosphate should be connected at their S poles. The connections at both ends of the DNA are most critical, while the others are not as important.