DNA, Fifty Years To the Day

An anonymous reader writes "Today being the fiftieth anniversary (April 2, 1953) of the Watson-Crick double-helical, DNA discovery [to quote, 'We wish to put forward a radically different structure...'], there is an interesting tally of completed gene sequences here, and ones still being worked, including the Ames strain of the anthrax bacteria. It also appears that the only lifeforms not using DNA for code storage are a few viruses like the common cold."

Comments

Rosalind Franklin

[SUB7IME]

Let's not forget Rosalind Franklin - the woman who actually took the X-ray photographs of the DNA molecule. Without her, Watson and Crick would not have been able to discern the DNA structure!

Re:Rosalind Franklin

[Digitalia]

It irritates me when people make claims like this. Though Franklin was responsible for producing the image which Watson used, there is no evidence that she had realized the helical nature of DNA. She deserves credit for producing the vital image, but not for discovering that DNA is helical. Nothing she wrote before or after suggests otherwise. Furthermore, it is in fact very likely that, had she not died in 1958, she would have been awarded the Nobel prize along with Watson and Crick.

Even if you are unwilling to recognize this fact, I hope you will not unkowingly sully the name of Crick. Watson was responsible for accquiring the unreleased image of the B form of DNA. Whether or not Watson obtained this image without Franklin's permission, Cricks was unaware. If you must demonize anyone, it should be Watson. Everything he has said in the ensuing years has shown just how pompous and deceitful he is.

But no matter how detestable Watson may be, he and Cricks were the first ones to correctly determine that DNA was helical in shape. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise.

Bake a Cake

[Ken@WearableTech]

In honor of the birthday I'm going to make a a cellular peptide cake with mint frosting ;-)

Remember, they didn't discover DNA!

[ASquare]

...they only described it's structure. The discovery of DNA goes back to at least 1929, possibly earlier (depending on which discovery you're looking for.)

1865 - Gregor Mendel shows that heredity is passed in discreet units

1900 - Three scientists independently verify Mendel's work, and formulate the laws of heredity

1909 - Willhelm Johannsen coins the term gene

1911 - Thomas Hunt Morgan shows that chromosomes contain genes

1929 - Phoebus Levin discovers that genes are made up of nucleotides (i.e., genes are made up of DNA)

1943 - William Astbury obtains first X-ray diffraction pictures of DNA

1951 - Rosalind Franklin's X-ray diffraction images show DNA has two different forms, and that it takes the form of a helix

1953 - Watson and Crick formulate their model

Re:As always,

[urbazewski]

I really enjoyed The Double Helix the first I read it, shortly after high school. The second time I read it, just after grad school, I was appalled. Watson & Crick's (& conspirator Wilkins') deliberate theft of Rosalind Franklin's work violated any reasonable standard of academic or professional conduct, as well as being highly unethical. The fact that Watson went on to trash her in his book only adds insult to tremendous injury.

If you are interested in learning about the abusive mistreatment of women researchers look no further than The Double Helix.

"In other news..."

[Overly Critical Guy]

1. Find obvious article to whore in.
2. Skim the summary.
3. Reply and title your post "In other news..."
4. Take premise of article and twist it into something obviously absurd. Make sure it is not clever, original, or funny in any way.
5. Wait for dull, crackhead moderators with itchy mouse fingers to click it up into the various realms of Funny That Is Not.

I will either be modded down, someone will post another "step" to my list that references responses like mine, or some Anonymous Coward will copy my style as they usually do.