DNA – The Story of Life, James Version

On February 28th, 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick figured out the structure of DNA – the famous double helix. Two long molecules winding round each other, carrying the secret code of life. The story of how the structure of DNA was discovered (one might say unraveled) is arguably the most poignant one in the annals of molecular biology.

In 1968, Watson wrote his own personal account of how the structure of DNA was discovered. The book, called “The Double Helix” is both candid and controversial. Many people who were involved in the story were displeased by its publication, including his own partner Francis Crick.

“TheDoubleHelix” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheDoubleHelix.jpg#/media/File:TheDoubleHelix.jpg

Many years later (in 2005) James Watson gave a wonderful talk on TED.  You can see it here. It’s  so much fun to watch, you might decide not to read the book.

I suggest you do both!

When Crick and Watson began to look at DNA, there was research strongly indicating that DNA was the molecule carrying the genetic code. However, not everyone believed that to be the case.

Watson and Crick did.

They also thought that the structure might shed light on how genetic information is copied and transferred to coming generations.

So did Linus Pauling, the revered Nobel prize laureate who had discovered the structure of protein.

Watson and Crick competed with Pauling to try to deduce DNA’s structure. Was that brave of them, or foolhardy?

Watson and Crick did a lot of reading. They read published research of other scientists.  My friend Neal Farber once told me that six months of research in the library can save you one hour reading in the library.

Watson and Crick did not do laboratory research per se. They spent weeks playing around with molecular models. They may have looked ridiculous to their colleagues and visitors to the laboratory. I am not sure they cared.

They also looked at unpublished research in the office of researcher Rosalind Franklin. Her x-ray photographs helped them come up with their model and confirm that it was correct. Some people think that it was unethical for them to look at her work, especially when she was not even in the laboratory. Some people think that she should have received the Nobel prize. What do you think? You can double click on the page opposite and write your opinion.

They published their paper in April 25th, 1953 in the prestigious journal “Nature”. Near the end of the article, they famously write,

“It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material.”

It is a very brief paper. You can read it for yourself,

here in just a couple of minutes.

James Watson is arguably more famous than Francis Crick. Perhaps that is because his name appeared first on their seminal paper. Would you agree? Do you know how they agreed who would be first and who would be second? How do you think that John Lennon and Paul McCartney decided in a similar mannere?

In 1962, Watson and Crick, together with Maurice Wilkins, shared the Nobel Prize. You can read about it here.

One important historical observation is that for about five years after its publication, few scientists paid attention to their seminal discovery as related in the 1953 paper. What do you think that the reasons for that might be?

So thanks to Watson, Crick and the scientists whom they learned from and worked with, and subsequent research, we understand the structure of DNA and the mechanism of transfer of genetic material. We know that the genetic code depends on the order of the four bases A,T,C, and G.

But no one knows why, several billion years ago, DNA turned into the molecule that encodes protein manufacture and thus life itself, why these four particular bases make up the code, and how a given three base sequence encodes one particular amino acid, rather than another.

Will we ever know? Will you be the next Watson or Crick?