The Turkish five-lira banknote shows a DNA helix, the solar system, atomic symbols, and a portrait of science historian Adnan Sayili. But the banknote is bearing an erroneous scientific depiction ever since it was issued in 2009, according to Turkish Nobel laureate Aziz Sancar.

Turkish media reports said on Monday that the biochemist and molecular biologist specializing in DNA repair pointed out the error while visiting Istanbul schools to discuss his work. 

The US-based professor said the banknote "shows a left-handed Z-DNA helix winding from left to right, when it should be the other way round," although he had notified the country’s Central Bank of the scientific error five years ago.

Sancar was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Paul L. Modrich and Tomas Lindahl for their mechanistic studies of DNA repair, which is helping cancer treatment. He dedicated his prize to the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara last week.