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Who discovered the structure of DNA
Who discovered the structure of DNA
History of the evolution of forensic DNA
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The Double Helix tells a tale of fierce competition, perseverance, and scientific innovation as we follow James Watson and his cohort Francis Crick on their quest to discover the secret to life, the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid. Although already fascinated with DNA, Watson struggled with finding chemistry exciting enough to learn it in depth. He had studied birds in college and thereby managed to avoid any formal chemistry or physics courses. As he later pursued a PhD in biochemistry, he realized he could put it off no longer and attempted to learn organic chemistry at Indiana University. However, after a mishap in the lab, he was encouraged instead to study nucleic acid chemistry with Herman Kalckar in Copenhagen. There, his mind …show more content…
Herman stopped teaching Watson after going through a divorce with his wife, and sent Watson off to a scientific conference in Naples. Although he was bored by many of the lectures, Maurice Wilkins’s talk about X-ray diffraction fascinated Watson. He was struck by an X-ray diffraction picture of DNA that Maurice presented and was determined to study the acid. He later got to know more about Maurice’s colleague, Rosalind Franklin, who was proud, stubborn, and very difficult to work with. Watson greatly admired the lecture given by the renowned Linus Pauling, who had discovered the structure of the alpha-helix and was thought of as the leader in DNA research in the scientific world.
After scoping out the DNA-research picture, Watson got a job at the Cambridge lab where Francis Crick, Max Perutz, and Sir Lawrence Bragg were working. Francis was rumored to be immodest and exceedingly talkative, at times irritating Bragg to the point of considering kicking him out of the lab. He was extremely enthusiastic about his work and eager to share his theories with anyone who would listen and intently studied and experimented with things that were important in the scientific world, perhaps only because they
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They also could determine that the structure could only have two, three, or four strands as was indicated by the X-ray data. Numbers higher than four were implausible due to the angles and radii at which the strands must curve. However, it soon became clear that these Mg++ bonds could not work because of the presence of water in the structure. After this first attempted model, Watson took up studying the Tobacco Mosaic Virus, as a major part of it was nucleic acid and could potentially give him insight into DNA. Furthermore, the TMV acid was RNA, which could not only help him figure out DNA, but was also unclaimed scientific territory. His major breakthrough came when he made an X-ray that clearly showed the helical structure of the RNA in the TMV. This strongly supported his argument against Rosy, who insisted that DNA could not be helical. After a long stretch of less-than-satisfying findings, Watson took up research about the sexual relations of bacteria. He discovered evidence for the distinction between male and female bacteria and studied the mating habits. This finding of
Ted Bieler’s Helix of Life (1971) that is located outside the Medical Sciences building at University of Toronto is a sculpture made from a light grey concrete material. Its color appears to be plain which happens to match the exterior of the Medical Sciences building as well. Due to the age of the sculpture, it shows lighter and darker gray dents and streaks near the top and bottom and where it bends. Some of the markings have been made from the material and texture of the sculpture. The material used, which was said previously, is cast concrete. Using concrete without any smooth surface tools creates a rougher and coarse texture which is why it has dents and holes when viewing it up close. As the viewer looks at the sculpture from afar, its
With a competitive spirit, people are driven to act in ways that they would not otherwise and the results can be drastic. In the case of James D. Watson and Francis Crick, in Watson’s novel the Double Helix, this sensation of competition leads to one of the greatest discoveries in biology. But the actions of Watson, Crick, and their competitors may or may not be justified for the results that they yield; the powerful conflict of rivalry has beneficial, detrimental, and questionably moral consequences that shaped the pathway to DNA’s structure.
Bragg, Melvyn, On Giants' Shoulders: Great Scientists and Their Discoveries from Archimedes to DNA. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998.
The book Rosalind Franklin and DNA is a biography of Rosalind Franklin written by a British journalist and close friend of hers, Anne Sayre to reveal the true personality of Rosalind Franklin in contradiction to the fallacious character portrayed by James Watson in his personal account of The Double Helix. This book was undertaken to refute Franklin’s distorted portrait from abnormal feminist into rational, perfectionist and talented ‘women’ scientist. She begins by introducing her strong background, curious childhood, dedicated education, generous nature and most importantly how she was brought up in a favorable environment of distinctive Angelo-Jewish family, who identified and cultivated her talents and developed her in a person with full capacity for commitment. In this book, despite admiring the geniuses of Watson in depicting and picking out small information, connecting points and the kind of abilities he possessed was perfectly factitive with Crick that Rosalind and Gosling lacked however, she constantly tries to put the Rosalind’s side of story in picture which she believes was minimized in The Double Helix by Watson and correct her character that distorted in public eye.
How Watson and Crick’s Discovery of the Structure of DNA Influenced American Industries and Scientific Development in the United States
Altman, Lawrence K. “For 3 Nobel Winners, a Molecular Mystery Solved.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 7 Oct. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
James D. Watson is a molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist. He is well known as one of the two men who discovered DNA. The other man who helped discover DNA is Francis Crick. Francis is a biologist, neurologist and a biophysicist.
Francis Crick: He does the same research with Watson and they are both teammates. He is also eager to know what is in DNA and the relationship of it with the double-helix, but at the same time is disorganised, and expected Watson to do a majority of work.
With the unflattering and distorted picture presented by Watson in his The Double Helix (1968) her role in this has become somewhat controversial. At King's, she had been recruited to work on biological molecules and her director, John Randall, had specifically instructed her to work on the structure of DNA. When she later learned that Maurice Wilkins, a colleague at King's, also intended to work on DNA, she felt unable to cooperate with him. Nor did she feel much respect for the early attempts of Watson and Crick in Cambridge to establish the structure. The causes of friction were various ranging from simple personality clashes to, it has been said, male hostility to the invasion of their private club by a woman.
Arguably one of the most influential (and outspoken) scientists of the twentieth century, James D. Watson played a significant role in revolutionizing the field of genetics and molecular biology. In his personal narrative, The Double Helix, Watson recounted his journey toward discovery--a discovery which he and many other prominent figures took to ultimately unravel the mysterious structure of DNA. Some of the viewpoints mentioned in his narrative are representative of beliefs many people shared during that time period as well as today. Specifically, I believe Watson’s views on Rosalind Franklin and competition within the scientific community
At the moment, that information was irrelevant. It was Holmes way of showing that he was intelligent, more so than Watson; which was both arrogant and condescending. Another aspect of
A master and maker in many fields, Linus Pauling lived a very long and productive life spanning nearly the entire twentieth century. By the time he was in his twenties, he had made a name for himself as a scientist. After many significant contributions including his work on the nature of the chemical bond, he turned to chemical biology and is generally accepted as the founder of molecular biology. Later in his life he became very involved in issues of politics and peace for which he is somewhat less well known. In his later years, he became interested in health and medicine and specifically in the use of vitamin C to prevent ailments from the common cold to cancer.
In 1953, after carefully studying this molecule and scientific reports generated from several predecessors, scientists Jason Watson and Frances Crick divulged their determination that the structure
"The discovery of the structure by Crick and Watson, with all its biological implications, has been one of the major scientific events of this century." (Bragg, The Double Helix, p1) In the story of The Double Helix, James Watson tells of the road that led to the discovery of life's basic building block-DNA. This autobiography gives insight into science and the workings within a professional research laboratory that few members of society will ever be able to experience. It also gives the reader an idea of the reality of life for one scientist and how he struggled with the problem of DNA. However, the author's style is marked by his lack of objectivity and inclusion of many biased opinions and personal prejudices.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a self-replicating molecule or material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent in chromosomes. It encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and many viruses. Simply put, DNA contains the instructions needed for an organism to develop, survive and reproduce. The discovery and use of DNA has seen many changes and made great progress over many years. James Watson was a pioneer molecular biologist who is credited, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, with discovering the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. The three won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962 for their work (Bagley, 2013). Scientist use the term “double helix” to describe DNA’s winding, two-stranded chemical structure. This shape looks much like a twisted ladder and gives the DNA the power to pass along biological instructions with great precision.