The Competition for the Secret of Life in James D. Watson’s Novel the Double Helix

In James Watson’s The Double Helix, there are four main scientists that all work towards the discovery of the double helix. These four people discovered the double helix and forever changed biology. Their names are James D. Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins. The winners of the Nobel prize in real life were James D. Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins. Rosalind was ineligible to receive the reward because she died prior to the award being given. As the Nobel prize committee I choose James D. Watson to win the Nobel Prize. There was no doubt that Watson was the most important person towards the discovery of the double helix.

The pictures were shown to James Watson and Francis Crick by Maurice Wilkins. They were then able to confirm their theory about the 3D structure of DNA. In 1962, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for solving the structure of DNA. The Nobel committee could not award it to Franklin because the Nobel prize could only be shared by three people and also because she was already dead (DNA from the Beginning, 2011)

The discovery of deoxyribonucleic acid, more commonly known as DNA, has been the foundation for much scientific work. This fundamental discovery was credited to James Watson and Francis Crick. Many people believe that another person, Rosalind Franklin, also played a large role in the research. How much did she contribute to the discovery? Why is her name left unrecognized? This paper will discuss her part in the search and whether her name should appear next to Watson's and Crick's as the co-discoverer of DNA.

Over the course of the modern age, the human body was still a mystery waiting to be solved. The body contains secrets one can only hope to discover. Over the twentieth century, scientists tried to understand one of the most complex concepts in the biological field. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) was at the forefront of research. Several theories claimed to have solved the structural concept of DNA. However, it was not until Francis Crick and James D. Watson discovered the true structure, the double helix. However, many potential models of DNA had passed through the biology field until eventual lose of credibility. The past models would contain a fixed detail that would make the entire concept invalid. In James D. Watson book, The Double Helix, he illustrates his path amid incorrect theories until he reaches the model that is taught around the world today.

2. What role did James Watson & Francis Crick play in our understanding of DNA’s structure? They discovered the 3D structure.

Watson of opinion that anything that Crick would touch would eventually be regarded as the Gospel of that field due to his brilliant insights into someone’s work. (Page 4) This the very first impression of Watson that Crick who was merely meagre in his own experimental work for his Ph.D as represented by him flooding the hall way with water because he had neglected to prepare his experimental equipment properly. Whereas he was extremely quick in intervening on other’s lab work and providing insights on as to how should the experiments proceed going further. This is my opinion is the start of this coalition between sketchy Watson and intrusive Crick alliance that obtained and used works of many prominent scientists such as Chargaff, Donohue, Wilkins, Franklin yet failed to give proper credit due to each one of them with a marginal exception of Wilkins.

I believe that Rosalind Franklin deserved more credit than she got foe her X-ray crystallography. Watson took photo 51 from her file without ther knowledge which showed that DNA has a definite pattern and two strands. Watson and Crick used the photo for their own personal gain instead of giving Rosalind any credit they saw Rosalind as below them so they had no issue stealing her idea.

Also he helped with mapping cancer to help people or warn others, so they will be able to find if they have it. James helped out everyone on this planet and those who are sick or are sick but don’t know it. To be recognized in the scientific community you have to do something amazing. Crick and James Watson's first look toward taking in the structure of DNA missed the goal, but their second look took place in the spring 1953 and brought about the match of the ladder helical look. Which takes after a stepping stool. Their model added how the DNA particle could copy itself. Watson and Crick had looked the work of English scientist Rosalind Franklin, a partner of Maurice Wilkins' at King's College London, to land at their noteworthy disclosure, notwithstanding, her commitment to their discoveries would go generally unrecognized until after her she died. Franklin had made a few unpublished working papers talking about the basic characteristics of DNA, and with her understudy Raymond Gosling had taken a X-ray diffraction picture of DNA, known as Photo 51, which would get to be urgent proof in recognizing the structure of

James D Watson was a brilliant scientist who made important discoveries about the structure of DNA and genealogy. James was very intelligent from the beginning. He graduated from high school at the age of 15 and immediately after he enrolled at the University of Chicago. One of his teachers from Chicago said that Watson “must have been very keen”. He said this because he had given him 2 A’s, and “I don’t give very many A’s.” The famous biologist Paul, Weiss, who was James Watson’s instructor, said “Watson never took any notes in class, yet he came out top of the class at the end of the semester. “

Although Watson can be seen as one of few who have come to express this matter honestly, it is not justifiable by the way he has done so. The phrases used in the novel convey immaturity “ Within a few days of my arrival, we knew what to do; imitate Linus Pauling and beat him at his own game” (pg 32). The interpretation of science being a game continuously arises through out the novel “But if I went back to pure biology, the advantage of our small head start over Linus might suddenly vanish” (pg 84). By expressing science as a competition for personal triumph over other men, can be seen as offensive to those who have invested their life in scientific revelations for knowledge oppose to winning a Noble Prize. Although DNA fascinated Watson, the interested to be the first to gain victory of it was more established.

Many people throughout our nation do not know that it was more than Crick and Watson that led to this remarkable discovery through our history. Another aspect that is astonishing is that fact Crick and Watson were so close to giving up on the research of DNA and it's double helix structure. They believed it would impede science and it's research. It held

Franklin was not recognized for her contributions in the development of the DNA theory. Franklin’s initial research offered substantial evidence along with a picture of the DNA. One of Franklin’s coworkers had taken her results and photos showing Franklin’s discovery to James Watson. They took the chance and ran with it building a model and taking credit for what Franklin had initially discovered. Which ultimately lead Watson and Crick to develop the DNA theory. (“Com.com”).

Watson and Crick discovered that cell’s nucleuses contained a molecule that was called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. The clues from the diary are: “Even us lab boys knew that there had been gossip going around the labs that Crick and Watson had been trying to solve the structure of this new-fangled molecule called DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid – but discovering the secret of life itself?”

After watching the film, I realized the importance of collaboration in a team. Because neither Franklin nor Wilkins wanted to give up their ideas and processes in finding the DNA structure, good ideas from either side cannot reach the other person. On the other hand, although Watson and Crick failed a lot of times and even got banned from conducting their research, they worked together as a team and were selfless about their findings. Therefore, if Franklin and Wilkins worked together in the beginning there might be a possibility that they would discover the DNA structure

Rosalind Franklin’s work on DNA was crucial in discovering the composition of the human body as a whole. Her x-ray photo revealed a double helix structure and she also discovered the A and B form of DNA. She worked through the adversity of being a female in a predominately male dominated realm and made remarkable findings that were eventually stolen. She adapted to a new lab with antiquated technology. Before this discovery, the structure of DNA was thought to be simple. Scientist, Watson and Crick, started with the wrong structure of DNA from a misinterpretation of notes from one of Franklin’s presentations. Unlike Watson and Crick, Rosalind Franklin could explain DNA and how it worked.