Folding DNA Model Kit

A modular DNA model at scale: backbone pieces, phosphate groups and the four bases (plus uracil and methylated cytosine) clip together into the double helix. The more pieces you print, the longer the strand.

Because it folds and comes apart, students can pull the two strands away from each other to show base pairing (A–T, C–G), read codons, act out replication or swap a base to show a mutation. The major and minor grooves are visible once it is twisted.

Design by mkuiper on Printables, shared under CC BY 4.0. The files and photos are the designer's, unchanged.

1. Print each base in its own colour, and the backbone in a neutral one, so the pairs stand out.
2. Start with 10 base pairs per group: that is one full turn of the helix.
3. Let groups build a strand from a sequence you give them, then build the matching strand.
4. Extension: give them a "mutated" sequence and ask what changes in the codons.