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KF5JRV > TODAY 28.02.19 13:28l 48 Lines 2648 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 31963_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Feb 28
Path: IW8PGT<HB9ON<IW2OHX<IR1UAW<IQ5KG<I0OJJ<GB7CIP<AB0AF<KF5JRV
Sent: 190228/1221Z 31963@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
On this day in 1953, Cambridge University scientists James D. Watson and
Francis H.C. Crick announce that they have determined the double-helix
structure of DNA, the molecule containing human genes.
Though DNA–short for deoxyribonucleic acid–was discovered in 1869, its
crucial role in determining genetic inheritance wasn’t demonstrated
until 1943. In the early 1950s, Watson and Crick were only two of many
scientists working on figuring out the structure of DNA. California
chemist Linus Pauling suggested an incorrect model at the beginning of
1953, prompting Watson and Crick to try and beat Pauling at his own
game. On the morning of February 28, they determined that the structure
of DNA was a double-helix polymer, or a spiral of two DNA strands, each
containing a long chain of monomer nucleotides, wound around each other.
According to their findings, DNA replicated itself by separating into
individual strands, each of which became the template for a new double
helix. In his best-selling book, The Double Helix (1968), Watson later
claimed that Crick announced the discovery by walking into the nearby
Eagle Pub and blurting out that “we had found the secret of life.ö The
truth wasn’t that far off, as Watson and Crick had solved a fundamental
mystery of science–how it was possible for genetic instructions to be
held inside organisms and passed from generation to generation.
Watson and Crick’s solution was formally announced on April 25, 1953,
following its publication in that month’s issue of Nature magazine. The
article revolutionized the study of biology and medicine. Among the
developments that followed directly from it were pre-natal screening for
disease genes; genetically engineered foods; the ability to identify
human remains; the rational design of treatments for diseases such as
AIDS; and the accurate testing of physical evidence in order to convict
or exonerate criminals.
Crick and Watson later had a falling-out over Watson’s book, which Crick
felt misrepresented their collaboration and betrayed their friendship. A
larger controversy arose over the use Watson and Crick made of research
done by another DNA researcher, Rosalind Franklin, whose colleague
Maurice Wilkins showed her X-ray photographic work to Watson just before
he and Crick made their famous discovery. When Crick and Watson won the
Nobel Prize in 1962, they shared it with Wilkins. Franklin, who died in
1958 of ovarian cancer and was thus ineligible for the award, never
learned of the role her photos played in the historic scientific
breakthrough.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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