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Charles Crick And James Watson On The Structure Of The Complex Molecule Known As Dna Essay

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In 1962, the Nobel Prize was awarded to Francis Crick and James Watson for formulating the structure of the complex molecule known as DNA. These discoveries were a direct result of the accumulation of many scientists’ earlier analyses and findings of the DNA. Before Watson and Crick had developed the double-helical structure of DNA, indication of this genetic material had been revealed around the 1850’s. During the century following the first evidence of DNA, subsequent researchers had been eagerly examining the physical and chemical components of this molecule. Moreover, scientists such as Erwin Chargaff and Linus Pauling established a scientific foundation of research for future experts like Watson and Crick to analyze and interpret. The history of science acknowledges Watson and Crick’s findings as an exclusive discovery of their studies. However, the knowledge required to expose these innovative ideas are a culmination of “human events in which personalities and cultural traditions play major roles” (Watson and Stent, 3). Watson’s personal account within The Double Helix introduces the significance of these scientific influences on his research and discovery of the DNA molecular structure. Without major scientific figures, such as Max Perutz, Rosalind Franklin, and Linus Pauling, the conceptualization of Watson and Crick’s DNA structure would not have successfully developed as it did in the 1950’s.
Intrigued by Linus Pauling’s discovery of the alpha helix, Watson

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