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Essay about the discovery of dna
James Watson and his contribution to DNA
James Watson and his contribution to DNA
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WATSON & CRICK
The article, “Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid”, written by Watson and Crick, was a stepping stone on the path of discovery for the building blocks of life. In this article, Watson and Crick briefly state previous theories on the structure of DNA were incorrect in certain aspects but correct in others. Watson and Crick later went on to describe their version of a double helical structured DNA. They indirectly state the importance of their discovery which later them to winning the noble prize.
Previous to this publication, there were at least two other theories on the structure of deoxyribose nucleic acid. The first theory was that the structure “consisted of three intertwined chains, with the phosphates near the fiber axis, and the bases on the outside.” (Watson and Crick, 4/2/53) This theory had been proposed by Pauling and Corey. Later a second theory was mentioned, but not very dwelled upon, in Watson and Crick’s paper. Fraser had also suggested a triple wined chain. However, Fraser also suggested that “the phosphates are on the outside and the bases on the inside, linked together by hydrogen bonds.” (Watson and Crick, 4/2/53)
Watson and Crick developed a double chained helix with the bases inside and the phosphates outside. By studying the Pauling and Corey theory, they discovered that where they had the phosphates and the bases were incorrectly placed...
In this case, the reward for winning the “competition” is so significant that better opportunities are overlooked and some are left without the aid they need. When Watson and Crick ask Rosalind Franklin’s opinion on their model of DNA, the result they are looking for is far from what they had hoped: “Rosy did not give a hoot about the priority of...
DNA is made up of nucleotides, and a strand of DNA is known as a polynucleotide. A nucleotide is made up of three parts: A phosphate (phosphoric acid), a sugar (Deoxyribose in the case of DNA), and an organic nitrogenous base2 of which there are four. The four bases are as followed: Adenine (A), Cytosine
at the time of Conan Doyle. However, it was the very early days of Police
Have you ever thought to yourself if something is morally right? In the article “Crick, Watson, and Franklin” by Cynthia Stokes Brown and she discusses the story of how DNA was discovered. Crick and Watson used Rosalind Franklin’s images without permission and people have mixed feelings about this. Some believe that use of any work is fine, others think Franklin didn’t get the credit, and some think it doesn’t matter as long as we are advancing in science.
His two major breakthroughs paved the way for the world of science to come. His first breakthrough was protein sequencing. Before Sanger’s experiments, it was known that proteins had different physical properties, biological functions, and amino acid compositions, and most of it controlled by genes. However, it was widely questioned how large molecules, such as proteins could be created, and many believed that proteins were formed randomly. That was the common belief, which was taken seriously until Sanger forever changed this belief. Through his experiments Sanger proved that proteins were made up of a sequence of amino acids. To do this, he developed various methods of sequencing proteins, but the method that was successful, was the one using what is a chemical, now called “Sanger’s Reagent.” In this case, Sanger used this chemical, and Bovine Insulin, to sequence the first protein, a discovery for which diabetics are forever grateful. His discovery was groundbreaking and founded the modern study of enzymology, and ultimately earned him the nobel prize in 1958. However, Sanger did not stop here, later in 1962, he joined the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC-LMB). Although he was the head of protein chemistry, he joined the MRC-LMB, shifting his focus from protein chemistry to nucleic acids and began developing new methods of sequencing RNA. Later, these methods translated into DNA, where he and his team used various methods to approach DNA sequencing. The first method they used was called the “plus and minus” method, followed by a new method developed by Sanger and his team. This new method was the process of using chain-terminating inhibitors of DNA polymerase, called dideoxynucleotides, to sequence DNA. Ultimately, this newly developed process was called “Sanger sequencing.” Using this method, Sanger and his team
Crick discovered the structure of DNA in 1953 and others discovered the genetic code a few years after. The old idea of genes as beads on a string, chromosomes, seemed to gain its vindication from the Watson and Crick model. Each of the three nucleotides in the DNA codes for an amino acid , a string of amino acids makes a protein. Many genes are separated by DNA sequences of nucleotides that are not transcribed into RNA. Proteins are coded by partial sequences on two or more chromosomes. Only a small percentage of DNA codes for proteins are higher than the organisms. In humans DNA codes for proteins are only one percent but not higher than two percent. Many of the rest contain sequences that are repeated over and over again.
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She discovered phosphates are on the outside of the DNA strands. The phosphates are on the outside so that the phosphate-phosphate interhelical bonds are disrupted by water. Also, the hydrophilic phosphates caused the molecule to soak up water and lengthen causing the wet DNA to produce a sharp diffraction picture that resembled the pattern of a x; further proving phosphates are on the outside. Through Franklin’s research, phosphates were discovered to be on the outside of DNA strands which allowed other information to be put in place; such as nitrogenous bases and sugar. It helped show that each nucleotide includes one nitrogenous base, attached to the 1’ carbon of the sugar, then the sugar is attached to 5’ of the phosphate. Franklin opened a passageway for Watson and Crick to further more their own discovery. In addition to finding phosphates are placed on the outside of DNA strands; Franklin also discovered DNA is
"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.
John Broadus Watson was a famous American psychologist who lived between 1878 and 1958. He was born in Greenville, South Carolina to Pickens and Emma Watson and was the fourth of six children. The family was not well off financially and John did not have an easy childhood. In spite of the poverty that engulfed the family, John’s father turned into an alcoholic who cared less for his family. However, Emma, John’s mother was a devoted religious woman who struggled to take care of her children with less support from her husband. In 1891, John’s father left the family and disappeared after engaging in extra marital affairs with other women. The infidelity strained his marriage with Emma and the relationship with his children. After the disappearance of his father, John became unruly and confused due to the lack of full parental care of both parents. He became defiant at school and did not want to listen to advice from his teachers. He bullied fellow students and was involved in other antisocial behaviors which were quite unacceptable in the school environment, further more he became violent and even rebelled against his mother (Buckley, 1989).
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 strayed from his work and he began doing unauthorized research in the lab of Ole Maaløe, studying phages. 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.
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.
...f the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 that was extremely influential for future researchers. They determined that DNA was a double helix structure composed of base pairings, with a sugar phosphate backbone. This model explained how “genes can duplicate themselves [and] would eventually lead to our current understanding of many things, from genetic disease to genetic engineering” (Salem).