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DNA Pioneer Francis Crick Passes Away

Neil Halelamien writes "Francis Crick, who discovered the structure of DNA with James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins, passed away Wednesday in San Diego. His co-discovery of 'the secret of life' made him one of the most influential scientists of all time. In more recent years, he shifted his research efforts from molecular biology to neuroscience, with a particular interest in the question of the neural basis of consciousness."

7 of 247 comments (clear)

  1. I would like to take this moment... by CSharpMinor · · Score: 5, Informative

    I would like to take this moment to recommend Francis Crick's The Astonishing Hypothesis to anyone interested in cognitive science. Although the theory of consciousness he espouses is somewhat uninteresting, the book does provide a good overview of the mechanisms by which the human brain functions, and it also describes the field of Cog Sci to some depth.

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  2. Re:What I want to know is... by Monkey-Man2000 · · Score: 5, Informative

    My understanding is that they didn't use any of their own raw data, but the data from Rosalind Franklin. More info.

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  3. The Dark Lady of DNA by Mad+Martigan · · Score: 4, Informative

    I know that this article is about the passing of Crick, but it's nice to hear Rosalind Franklin recognized for her significant role in the discovery of the structure of DNA. Certinaly, Watson and Crick did a lot of work ... but they get a lot of credit too, including a nobel prize. Franklin didn't even get credit at the time of discovery because her photographs had been shown to Watson without her knowledge and they (Watson, Crick, and Wilkins) rushed their article to publication.

    Later on, more people learned of her contributions, but, sadly, she passed away in 1958 and was therefore ineligible for the 1962 Nobel prize that Watson, Crick, and Wilkonson shared. Without her name on the landmark publication or a Nobel prize, she has been largely forgotten.

    To read more about her story, you should check out the book The Dark Lady of DNA.

    1. Re:The Dark Lady of DNA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      According to the NY Times there were no hard feelings between her and Crick.

      Read this section:
      One of the problems caused by the book was Dr. Watson's implication that the pair of them had obtained Dr. Franklin's data on DNA surreptitiously and hence had deprived her of due credit for the DNA discovery. Dr. Crick believed he obtained the data fairly since she had presented it at a public lecture, to which he had been invited. Though Dr. Watson had misreported a vital figure from the lecture, a correct version reached Dr. Crick through the Medical Research Council report. If Dr. Franklin felt Dr. Crick had treated her unfairly, she never gave any sign of it. She became friends with both Dr. Crick and Dr. Watson, and spent her last remission from cancer in Dr. Crick's house.

      Hardly the miscredited dark lady some people claim her to be.

  4. Re:What I want to know is... by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well this is DNA, so there's no optical microscope involved.

    Rosalind Franklin used X-rays to clarify DNA's structure. Her research was then shown to Crick and Watson without her knowledge, and the two men were then able to decypher the structure of DNA.

    They got the Nobel Prize for their discovery. She wasn't included in the prize, even though she was critical in the discovery of the molecule's structure.

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  5. Yeah! The Nobel Commitee is Corpsist! by Jonathan · · Score: 5, Informative

    They got the Nobel Prize for their discovery. She wasn't included in the prize, even though she was critical in the discovery of the molecule's structure.


    Only living people can get the Nobel, and by the time of the prize, Rosie had died of cancer. There's no conspiracy.

    1. Re:Yeah! The Nobel Commitee is Corpsist! by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 5, Informative

      Hm. The Nobel Prize has been rewarded posthumously before.

      UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold received the award posthumously in 1961.

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