The Discovery Of The Double Helix And Dna

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.

DNA per medical dictionary is defined as A nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in cells and some viruses, consisting of two long chains of nucleotides twisted into a double helix and joined by hydrogen bonds between the complementary bases adenine and thymine or cytosine and guanine. DNA sequences are

Throughout the early 19th and 20th century, many scientists have studied deoxyribonucleic acids in order to attain higher understanding over the matter. Johann G. Mendel had figured out and understood the laws of heredity. Friedrich Miescher amazingly discovered DNA in 1869, even though scientists did not understand DNA was the genetic material

In Time Magazine an article states On February 28 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick broke the DNA code and discovered that the DNA strand is double helix and forms like a ladder. They found that cytosine and guanine were paired together and that adenine and thymine were paired. They discovered the building block of life (Wright, 1999). DNA is found in all living organisms.

DNA, Deoxyribonucleic Acid, is the basic structure for all life, it is the blueprint, the instruction manual, on how to build a living organism. DNA is made up of four nitrogen bases, adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine which are connected by sugar-phosphate bonds. Through a process called Protein Synthesis, the nitrogen bases are the code for the creation of amino acids. Essentially, DNA makes amino acids, amino acids make proteins, proteins make organisms. This process has been taking place for much longer than scientists have been able to document. Those scientists are called geneticists and their field is genetics.

her. She did not receive credit for the work she had done with DNA and

The origins of DNA were first discovered during 1857 by Gregor Mendel the "Father of Genetics”, whom was performing an experiment of genetics with pea plants, and would provide a basic foundation towards DNA and Genetics. Friedrich Miescher and Richard Altmann in 1869 were also part of the first people to discover DNA. While testing some sperm of a salmon, they discover a strange substance that they would name as "nuclein", which is known as DNA. This new form of "nuclein" (DNA) would be found to only exist in chromosomes. Frederick Griffith, a researcher, found the basis on DNA, from a molecule inheritance experiment involving mice and two types of pneumonia. His findings were that, when virulent disease is heated up (to kill) and is

Long before the introduction of Mendelian Genetics and the discovery of the double helix shape of DNA, scientists where making breakthroughs in the field of molecular and cell biology, creating the fundamentals of what we know today. One of the earliest and most influential was Robert Hooke, an English natural philosopher, architect and Renaissance man.

Scientists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double-helix configuration of a DNA strand in the early 1950’s. DNA’s structural discovery implemented modern molecular biology, which is implicated with genes controlling chemical processes within cells. The structure also contributed to revolutionary intuition into the genetic code and protein synthesis ("The Francis Crick Papers: The Discovery of the Double Helix, 1951-1953."). These scientists’ breakthrough was the first stride to the modern day scientific techniques of recombinant DNA research, rapid gene sequencing, monoclonal antibodies, and genetic engineering. The Human Genome Project mapped out roughly 20,050 human genes and 3

Although DNA was initially observed by Frederich Miescher, a German biochemist near the end of the nineteenth century, the key to the structure of DNA was not discovered until almost a hundred years later. It was at that time that science realized the importance of DNA to the study of biology.

But first, let us talk about the discovery of cells and the cell theory. Robert Hooke, an english scientist, was the man who first discovered the cell in 1665, proof being a book he released at that time called Micrographia. In this book, Hooke gave 60 observations of random objects under a compound microscope with a magnification of 30x. Because of this, he was not able to see the internal structures in the cell, like nuclei and vacuoles, and what he proclaimed to be cells were just empty cell walls of plant tissues. He shared his observations with The English Royal Society, until they started receiving letters from a scientist named Anton van Leeuwenhoek. The letters stated that Anton made use of a microscope containing improved lenses that magnified objects up to 275x, enough to identify the living parts of a cell. He kept on sending

One of the most important things discovered and understood in biology within science, has been the discovery of the DNA structure. Where DNA is the abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, though it is more known by nearly everyone simply as DNA. The idea behind DNA is that it is a self-replicating material that can be found in all living organisms, especially humans. The structure of DNA was solved in the year 1953, and was solved by four very important scientists who were; Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins (Silverman, 2003). Franklin was seen to contribute to the DNA structure heavily through her own research and discoveries, while it was noted that both Crick and Watson worked together on their discoveries and research. It has been seen that Wilkins contributed less than the other three, but in saying this, he still helped with it and this was made obvious when he also received the Noble Prize. The Noble Price was awarded to Crick, Watson and Wilkins in 1962 for the discovery and solution of the DNA structure (Silverman, 2003). Unfortunately, although Franklin had a big part in the discovery she was not awarded the Noble Prize, as she passed away in the year 1958 (Klug, 1968). If she was still alive at the award ceremony she would have received it alongside the other three. But it should be made clear that she was an important scientist during this discovery, which is seen through what she discovered. These four scientists all contributed

DNA per medical dictionary is defined as A nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in cells and some viruses, consisting of two long chains of nucleotides twisted into a double helix and joined by hydrogen bonds between the

DNA is a term that has been used in science as well as in many parts of daily

Francis Crick Watson and Maurice Wilkins were jointly awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology for Medicine “for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material.”