Type II restriction endonucleases are characterized by the remarkable specificity with which they cleave specific DNA sequences. Surprisingly, their protein sequences are in most cases unrelated, and no recurring structural motif has yet been identified. We have determined the structure of restriction endonuclease BamHI at 1.95 A resolution. BamHI shows striking resemblance to the structure of endonuclease EcoRI (refs 3, 4), despite the lack of sequence similarity between them. We also observe some curious differences between the two structures, and propose an evolutionary scheme that may explain them. The active site of BamHI is structurally similar to the active sites of EcoRI and EcoRV (ref. 5), but the mechanism by which BamHI activates a water molecule for nucleophilic attack may be different.