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Added 2 Sept 2026
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dna-helix-15745
DNA Helix
3D & Perspective

DNA Helix

Stack of gradient rungs all turning about one vertical axis on a staggered offset, so the column reads as a double helix winding endlessly through the frame.

3D & Perspectivehelixdnarotateystaggerspiral
lines of CSS
55lines of CSS
dependencies
0dependencies
browser, for years
Everybrowser, for years
stops under reduced motion
Guardedstops under reduced motion
Backdrop
Open a live copy in

Vue, Svelte, styled-components and Tailwind exports are part of Pro. HTML, CSS and React are free forever.

dna-helix-15745.css
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 {
  display: grid;
  place-items: center;
  width: 170px;
  height: 156px;
  perspective: 560px;
}
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx {
  position: relative;
  width: 110px;
  height: 144px;
  transform-style: preserve-3d;
}
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i {
  position: absolute;
  left: 0;
  width: 110px;
  height: 5px;
  border-radius: 3px;
  background: linear-gradient(90deg, #22d3ee, #a78bfa, #f472b6);
  box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(129,140,248,0.5);
  transform-style: preserve-3d;
  animation: fx-v14-3d-helix-15744-orbit 4.4s linear infinite;
}
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(1)  { top: 0px;   animation-delay: 0s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(2)  { top: 12px;  animation-delay: -0.28s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(3)  { top: 24px;  animation-delay: -0.56s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(4)  { top: 36px;  animation-delay: -0.84s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(5)  { top: 48px;  animation-delay: -1.12s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(6)  { top: 60px;  animation-delay: -1.4s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(7)  { top: 72px;  animation-delay: -1.68s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(8)  { top: 84px;  animation-delay: -1.96s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(9)  { top: 96px;  animation-delay: -2.24s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(10) { top: 108px; animation-delay: -2.52s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(11) { top: 120px; animation-delay: -2.8s; }
.fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 .hx i:nth-child(12) { top: 132px; animation-delay: -3.08s; }
@keyframes fx-v14-3d-helix-15744-orbit {
  from { transform: rotateY(0deg); }
  to   { transform: rotateY(360deg); }
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .fx-v14-3d-helix-15744,
  .fx-v14-3d-helix-15744::before,
  .fx-v14-3d-helix-15744::after,
  .fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 *,
  .fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 *::before,
  .fx-v14-3d-helix-15744 *::after {
    animation-duration: 1ms !important;
    animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
    animation-delay: 0ms !important;
    transition-duration: 1ms !important;
    transition-delay: 0ms !important;
  }
}
dna-helix-15745.html
<div class="fx-v14-3d-helix-15744">
  <div class="hx">
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
    <i></i>
  </div>
</div>

What do I do with this?

  1. Put dna-helix-15745.css anywhere your page already loads CSS from — in Next.js that is app/globals.css, or any stylesheet with a <link> in your HTML.
  2. Then put the class on the element you want it on: <button class="fx-v14-3d-helix-15744">. The CSS does nothing until a class name in it matches something on the page.
  • Link the stylesheet, then paste the markup wherever you need it.
npx hoverlab add dna-helix-15745

What's included

  • The markup and the stylesheet, in whichever framework you pick
  • No runtime dependencies

Works with

  • React
  • Vue
  • Svelte
  • Tailwind
  • styled-components
  • Plain CSS

npx hoverlab add dna-helix-15745

Or over MCP, from your editor's agent — no account needed.

License

Free to read, copy and install, for personal and non-commercial projects. Shipping it in client work or a paid product needs Pro ($79 once). The source lands in your repo and stops being ours — no attribution, nothing to upgrade.

Was this useful?

Motion safety

Static estimate, read from the CSS

Reduced motion
Guarded

Ships a prefers-reduced-motion block, so the loop settles into its end state for visitors who ask for less motion.

What it animates
Compositor only

Only transform, opacity or filter: the GPU can run it without re-laying-out or repainting the page.

Flashing (WCAG 2.3.1)
No flashing found

No repeating change in opacity, colour or brightness large enough to count as a flash.

Layout shift (CLS)
No shift expected

Nothing it animates moves or resizes the box in flow. A category from the CSS, not a measurement for this effect.

Every row is read from the shipped CSS. Only a figure marked measured came from a browser. Customizing the speed changes the timing, so recheck a customized copy. How it is computed

31 more effects in 3D & Perspective

All of them free to read, copy and install — no account, no locked tiles, no watermarked preview. The whole catalog is open, and so are the API and the CLI.

Browse 3D & Perspective

Shipping one commercially

Copying the code is free. Putting it in client work or a paid product is what Pro is for — the licence, not the access.

  • A commercial licence for everything in the catalog
  • Unlimited bundle exports, in Vue, Svelte and Tailwind
  • One payment — no subscription, nothing to renew
Pro — $79 once

7 variations of DNA Helix

Finished looks, each one a position in the customizer above. Copy any of them, or open it and keep moving the sliders.