For the moment, the general scheme we have proposed for the reproduction of deoxyribonucleic acid must be regarded as speculative. Even if it in correct, it is clear from what we heve said that much remains to be discovered before the picture of genctic duplication can be described in detail. What are the polynucleotide precursors? What makes the pair of chain unwind and separate? what is the precise role of the protein ?is the chromosome one long pair of deoxyribonualeic acid chains, or does it consist of patches of the acid joined together by protein ?
Despite these uncertainties we feel that our pro- posed structure for deoxyribonucleic acid may help to solve one of the fundamental biological problems the molecular basis of the template needed for genetic replication. The hypothesis we are suggesting is that the template is the pattern of bases formed by one chain of the deoxyribonucleic acid and that the gene contains a complementary pair of such templates.