Pulling sufficiently hard on DNA may cause it to unfold, doubling its total length. This new state of DNA is announced today by researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). Their theoretical model predicted the existence of this unique state, which they have dubbed ‘hyperstretched DNA’ for the fact that it is more extended than any form of DNA seen before. An elegant microscopy experiment confirmed this prediction. Their work appears today in the journal Nature Communications.