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It will overwind and form a loop by crossing over DNA chains, tightening the structure.

“It’s how my father taught me. If I don’t wind it consistently, it won’t keep time as well. And if I overwind it, the mainspring might break.”

When Will was little, his dad used to let him wind it up, pulling out the tiny stem and turning the metal knob, careful never to overwind.

My job is to admire it, not overwind it.

Young, moist tendrils do not tend to overwind, the researchers report online today in Science, but mature, dry tendrils do—helping to explain how delicate tendrils gradually stiffen to support a vine laden with cucumbers.