Fluorescence microscopic images (2-D slices) of marked chromosomes from human epithelial fibroblasts were obtained from Dr. Daniel Callahan of Johns Hopkins University. These images were processed and displayed on a SUN workstation in surface-rendered mode, in order to study the three-dimensional spatial distribution of chromosomes. With deblurring processing, these images can be sharpened considerably for more accurate determination of the chromosome distribution. In other work, molecular modeling of various conformations of oligo-DNA double- and triple-stranded segments has been performed, in order to gain insight into the possibility of residues from a third strand in the vicinity of a double helix. This technique provides a tool for studying the possibility of structural enhancement, or the blocking of it, from certain nucleic acid analogues to the formation of triple helices. This tool, in turn, aids the design of synthetic drugs.
