Prof. Duluman E.K.

Nobel laureate Francis Crick and atheism

(Before the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA)

if revealed religions

have anything revealed

it is that they

are usually wrong.

(If the religions of Revelation ,

open up something

then these revelations are usually

turn out to be false)

Francis Creek

Francis Creek

In 2003, the world scientific community celebrated the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA structure. The Russian Academy of Sciences devoted the entire sixth issue of the "BULLETIN OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES" for 2003 to this significant event, festively calling it: ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE STRUCTURE OF DNA.

Our leading and world-famous academicians made detailed analytical and informational articles: L.L. Kiselev,"Jubilee of the most important molecule"; E. D. Sverdlov,"The Great Discovery: Revolution, Canonization, Dogma and Heresy"; V. L. Karpov,"DNA, chromatin, histone code". By "clicking" on the title of these articles, you will get the opportunity to get acquainted with the full texts of their authors.

Academician L.L. Kiselev writes:

Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 for their discovery of the structure of DNA.

After reading the articles in the Academic Bulletin, I remembered the atheistic articles I had read earlier and the sayings of Francis Harry Compton Crick ( Francis Harry Compton Crick and his biography under the intriguing, if not strange, title: What Mad Pursuit», which can be translated as " What is crazy looking for?". It can also be translated differently, since the word “mad” can mean both “biased”, and “selfless”, and “in love”, and “crazy”, and the word “Pursuit” can mean “pursue”, “persuade”, “stay in search." However, when reading Crick's autobiography, one gets the impression that he used the word "mad" in response to the Biblical accusation of insanity against an atheist: "A fool speaks in his heart: there is no God" (Psalm 13:1; 52:2). At this point, English translations of the Bible refer to the madman as "mad."

In the autobiography What Mad Pursuit» there is a special chapter that Crick called "How I Got Inclined Towards Atheism." We do not have the opportunity to retell all the interesting and unique thoughts of the great scientist about the atheistic and religious worldview. We will give only three most representative, in our opinion, quotes from this greatest scientist and staunch atheist ..

« The mere knowledge of the true age of the earth, as convincingly evidenced by geological deposits, fossils of plants and animals, does not allow the intelligent mind to believe literally, like religious fundamentalists, in everything that is written in the Bible. And if some statements of the Bible are clearly false, then on the basis of what other biblical stories should be accepted as true?»

« Christian religious beliefs at the time of their formation may have responded not only to the imagination of believers, but also to the level of knowledge of that era. But, as unfortunate as it may be, subsequent scientific discoveries not only decisively refuted Christian beliefs, but also put them in an unsightly light. What could be more stupid than to justify the way of life of modern man entirely with erroneous ideas only on the basis that they, these ideas, were once considered true? And what could be more important than finding one's true place in the universe, eliminating one by one these vicious remnants of earlier beliefs? But it is still clear that a number of mysteries are still waiting for their scientific explanation. As long as they are not explained, they can harbor all sorts of religious superstitions.

For me, a matter of paramount importance was the desire to identify as yet ununderstood areas of knowledge in biology, to achieve their true scientific understanding. Only in this way could religious beliefs be confirmed or refuted.».

* * *

« The astonishing hypothesis is that your joys and sorrows, your memories and ambitions, your sense of self and free will are all in fact nothing more than the activity of a vast complex of nerve cells and their associated molecules. As Lewis Carroll's Alice would put it, you're just a bag of neurons. ».

The "Revelations of Revelation" are Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which believe that the content of their beliefs is Revealed to them by God in the text of the Bible...

(English) FrancisCrick was born, June 8 in Northampton, England; died at age 88

English molecular biologist Francis Harry Compton Crick was born in Northampton, the eldest of two sons of Harry Compton Crick, a wealthy shoe manufacturer, and Anna Elizabeth (Wilkins) Crick. After spending his childhood in Northampton, he attended a high school. During the economic crisis that followed the First World War, the family's commercial affairs fell into disrepair, and K.'s parents moved to London. As a student at Mill Hill School, K. showed great interest in physics, chemistry and mathematics. In 1934 he entered University College London to study physics and graduated three years later with a Bachelor of Science degree. Completing education at University College, K. considered the viscosity of water at high temperatures; this work was interrupted in 1939 by the outbreak of World War II.

During the war years, K. engaged in the creation of mines in the research laboratory of the Naval Ministry of Great Britain. For two years after the end of the war, he continued to work in this ministry and it was then that he read Erwin Schrödinger's famous book What is Life? Physical Aspects of the Living Cell” (“What Is Life? The Physical Aspects of the Living Cell”), published in 1944. In the book, Schrodinger asks the question: “How can spatio-temporal events occurring in a living organism be explained from the position physics and chemistry?

The ideas presented in the book, so influenced K. that he, intending to do particle physics, switched to biology. With the support of Archibald W. Hill K. received a scholarship from the Council for Medical Research and in 1947. began working at the Strangeway Laboratory in Cambridge. Here he studied biology, organic chemistry, and X-ray diffraction techniques used to determine the spatial structure of molecules. His knowledge of biology expanded significantly after moving in 1949 to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, one of the world's centers of molecular biology.

Under the leadership of Max Perutz K. investigated the molecular structure of proteins, in connection with which he had an interest in the genetic code of the amino acid sequence in protein molecules. About 20 essential amino acids serve as monomeric units from which all proteins are built. Studying the issue, defined by him as "the boundary between living and non-living", K. tried to find the chemical basis of genetics, which, he suggested, could be embedded in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

Genetics as a science arose in 1866 when Gregor Mendel formulated the position that "elements", later called genes, determine the inheritance of physical properties. Three years later, the Swiss biochemist Friedrich Miescher discovered nucleic acid and showed that it is contained in the cell nucleus. On the threshold of a new century, scientists discovered that genes are located in chromosomes, the structural elements of the cell nucleus. In the first half of the XX century. biochemists determined the chemical nature of nucleic acids, and in the 40s. researchers have found that genes are formed from one of these acids, DNA. It has been proven that genes, or DNA, direct the biosynthesis (or formation) of cellular proteins called enzymes and thus control the biochemical processes in the cell.

When K. began working on his doctoral dissertation at Cambridge, it was already known that nucleic acids consist of DNA and RNA (ribonucleic acid), each of which is formed by molecules of the monosaccharide group of pentoses (deoxyribose or ribose), phosphate and four nitrogenous bases - adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine (RNA contains uracil instead of thymine). In 1950, Erwin Chargaff of Columbia University showed that DNA contains equal amounts of these nitrogenous bases. Maurice H.F. Wilkins and his colleague Rosalind Franklin of King's College London conducted X-ray diffraction studies of DNA molecules and concluded that DNA has the shape of a double helix, resembling a spiral staircase.

In 1951, the twenty-three-year-old American biologist James D. Watson invited K. to work at the Cavendish Laboratory. Subsequently, they established close creative contacts. Based on the early studies of Chargaff, Wilkins and Franklin, K. and Watson set out to determine the chemical structure of DNA. Within two years, they developed the spatial structure of the DNA molecule by constructing its model from balls, pieces of wire and cardboard. According to their model, DNA is a double helix consisting of two chains of monosaccharide and phosphate (deoxyribose phosphate) connected by base pairs within the helix, with adenine connected to thymine, and guanine to cytosine, and the bases to each other by hydrogen bonds.

The model allowed other researchers to visualize DNA replication clearly. The two chains of the molecule are separated at hydrogen bonds, like opening a zipper, after which a new one is synthesized on each half of the old DNA molecule. The base sequence acts as a template, or blueprint, for the new molecule.

In 1953, Mr.. K. and Watson completed the creation of a DNA model. In the same year, K. received his Ph.D. from Cambridge, defending his thesis on X-ray diffraction analysis of protein structure. Over the next year, he studied protein structure at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in New York and lectured at various US universities. Returning to Cambridge in 1954, he continued his research at the Cavendish Laboratory, concentrating on deciphering the genetic code. Initially a theoretician, K. began with Sydney Brenner to study genetic mutations in bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacterial cells).

By 1961, three types of RNA were discovered: messenger, ribosomal, and transport. K. and his colleagues proposed a way to read the genetic code. According to K.'s theory, messenger RNA receives genetic information from DNA in the cell nucleus and transfers it to ribosomes (sites of protein synthesis) in the cytoplasm of the cell. Transfer RNA carries amino acids into ribosomes.

Informational and ribosomal RNA, interacting with each other, provide a combination of amino acids to form protein molecules in the correct sequence. The genetic code is made up of triplets of nitrogenous bases of DNA and RNA for each of the 20 amino acids. Genes consist of numerous basic triplets, which K. called codons; codons are the same in different species.

K., Wilkins and Watson shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and their significance for the transmission of information in living systems." A.V. Engström of the Karolinska Institute said at the awards ceremony: "The discovery of the spatial molecular structure ... DNA is extremely important, because it outlines the possibilities for understanding in great detail the general and individual characteristics of all living things." Engström noted that "deciphering the double helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid with a specific pairing of nitrogenous bases opens up fantastic opportunities for unraveling the details of the control and transmission of genetic information."

In the year of receiving the Nobel Prize K. became head of the biological laboratory at the University of Cambridge and a foreign member of the Council of the Salk Institute in San Diego (California). In 1977, he moved to San Diego, having received an invitation to become a professor. At the Salkovsky Institute K. conducted research in the field of neurobiology, in particular studied the mechanisms of vision and dreams. In 1983, with the English mathematician Graham Mitchison, he proposed that dreams are a side effect of the process by which the human brain is freed from excessive or useless associations accumulated during wakefulness. Scientists have hypothesized that this form of "reverse learning" exists to prevent neural overload.

In the book "Life as it is: its origin and nature" ("Life Itself: Its Origin and Nature", 1981) K. noted the amazing similarity of all forms of life. "With the exception of mitochondria," he wrote, "the genetic code is identical in all living objects currently studied." Referring to discoveries in molecular biology, paleontology and cosmology, he suggested that life on Earth could have originated from microorganisms that were scattered throughout space from another planet; this theory he and his colleague Leslie Orgel called "immediate panspermia".

In 1940, Mr.. K. married Ruth Doreen Dodd; they had a son. They divorced in 1947, and two years later K. married Odile Speed. They had two daughters.

Numerous awards to. include the Charles Leopold Mayer Prize of the French Academy of Sciences (1961), the American Research Society Scientific Prize (1962), the Royal Medal (1972), the Royal Society Copley Medal (1976). K. - Honorary Member of the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal Irish Academy, the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the US National Academy of Sciences.

James Dewey Watson is an American biochemist. Born April 6, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the only child of businessman James D. Watson and Jean (Mitchell) Watson. In his hometown, the boy received primary and secondary education. It soon became apparent that James was an unusually gifted child, and he was invited to the radio to participate in the Quiz for Kids program. After only two years of high school, Watson received a scholarship in 1943 to study at an experimental four-year college at the University of Chicago, where he developed an interest in the study of ornithology. After graduating from the university in 1947 with a bachelor's degree in natural sciences, he then continued his education at Indiana University Bloomington.

Born in Chicago, Illinois. At the age of 15, he entered the University of Chicago, graduating four years later. In 1950, he received his doctorate from the University of Indiana for the study of viruses. By this time, Watson became interested in genetics and began studying in Indiana under the guidance of a specialist in this field, G.D. Meller and bacteriologist S. Luria. In 1950, the young scientist received his Ph.D. for a dissertation on the effect of X-rays on the reproduction of bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria). A grant from the National Research Society allowed him to continue his research on bacteriophages at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. There he conducted a study of the biochemical properties of bacteriophage DNA. However, as he later recalled, experiments with bacteriophage began to weigh him down, he wanted to know more about the true structure of DNA molecules, which geneticists spoke so enthusiastically about. His visit to the Cavendish Laboratory in 1951 led to a collaboration with Francis Crick that culminated in the discovery of the structure of DNA.

In October 1951, the scientist went to the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge to study the spatial structure of proteins together with D.K. Kendrew. There he met Crick, a physicist who was interested in biology and was writing his doctoral dissertation at that time.

“It was intellectual love at first sight,” argues one historian of science. “Their scientific views and interests are the most important problem to solve if you are a biologist.” Despite the commonality of interests, views on life and style of thinking, Watson and Crick criticized each other mercilessly, albeit politely. Their roles in this intellectual duet were different. “Francis was the brain and I was the feeling,” says Watson.

Starting in 1952, based on the early work of Chargaff, Wilkins, and Franklin, Crick and Watson set out to try to determine the chemical structure of DNA.

Recalling the attitude towards DNA of the vast majority of biologists of those days, Watson wrote: “After Avery's experiments, it seemed that DNA was the main genetic material. Thus, elucidating the chemical structure of DNA could be an important step towards understanding how genes are reproduced. But unlike proteins, there was very little definite chemical knowledge about DNA. Few chemists have done it, and apart from the fact that nucleic acids are very large molecules built from smaller building blocks, nucleotides, there was nothing known about their chemistry that a geneticist could grasp. Moreover, the organic chemists who worked with DNA were almost never interested in genetics.”

American scientists have tried to bring together all the information so far available about DNA, both physicochemical and biological. As V.N. Soifer: “Watson and Crick analyzed the data of X-ray diffraction analysis of DNA, compared them with the results of chemical studies of the ratio of nucleotides in DNA (Chargaff's rules) and applied to DNA the idea of ​​​​L. Pauling about the possibility of the existence of helical polymers, expressed by him in relation to proteins. As a result, they were able to propose a hypothesis about the structure of DNA, according to which DNA was represented by two polynucleotide strands connected by hydrogen bonds and mutually twisted relative to each other. Watson and Crick's hypothesis so simply explained most of the mysteries about the functioning of DNA as a genetic matrix that it was literally immediately accepted by geneticists and experimentally proven in a short time.

Based on this, Watson and Crick proposed the following DNA model:

1. Two strands in the DNA structure are twisted one around the other and form a right-handed helix.

2. Each chain is composed of regularly repeating residues of phosphoric acid and deoxyribose sugar. Nitrogenous bases are attached to sugar residues (one for each sugar residue).

3. The chains are fixed relative to each other by hydrogen bonds connecting nitrogenous bases in pairs. As a result, it turns out that phosphorus and carbohydrate residues are located on the outer side of the helix, and the bases are enclosed inside it. The bases are perpendicular to the axis of the chains.

4. There is a selection rule for pairing bases. A purine base can combine with a pyrimidine, and, moreover, thymine can only combine with adenine, and guanine with cytosine ...

5. You can swap: a) the participants of this pair; b) any pair to another pair, and this will not lead to a violation of the structure, although it will decisively affect its biological activity.

“Our structure,” wrote Watson and Crick, “is thus composed of two chains, each of which is complementary to the other.”

In February 1953, Crick and Watson reported on the structure of DNA. A month later, they created a three-dimensional model of the DNA molecule, made from balloons, pieces of cardboard and wire.

Watson wrote about the discovery to his boss Delbrück, who wrote to Niels Bohr: “Amazing things are happening in biology. It seems to me that Jim Watson made a discovery comparable to what Rutherford did in 1911." It is worth recalling that in 1911 Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus.

The model allowed other researchers to visualize DNA replication clearly. The two chains of the molecule are separated at hydrogen bonds, like opening a zipper, after which a new one is synthesized on each half of the old DNA molecule. The base sequence acts as a template, or blueprint, for the new molecule.

The structure of DNA proposed by Watson and Crick perfectly satisfied the main criterion that was necessary for a molecule to be a repository of hereditary information. “The backbone of our model is highly ordered, and the sequence of base pairs is the only property that can ensure the transfer of genetic information,” they wrote.

Crick and Watson completed the model of DNA in 1953, and nine years later, together with Wilkins, they received the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and their importance for the transmission of information in living systems." Wilkins (Maurice Wilkins), - his experiments with X-ray diffraction helped to establish the double-stranded structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin (1920-58), whose contribution to the discovery of the structure of DNA, according to many, was very significant, was not awarded the Nobel Prize, because she did not live to see this time.

Summarizing the data on the physical and chemical properties of DNA and analyzing the results of M. Wilkins and R. Franklin on X-ray scattering on DNA crystals, J. Watson and F. Crick in 1953 built a model of the three-dimensional structure of this molecule. The principle of complementarity of chains in a double-stranded molecule proposed by them was of paramount importance. J. Watson owns the hypothesis of a semi-conservative mechanism of DNA replication. In 1958-1959. J. Watson and A. Tisier carried out studies of bacterial ribosomes that have become classic. The work of the scientist on the study of the structure of viruses is also known. In 1989-1992 J. Watson headed the international scientific program "Human Genome".

Watson and Crick discovered the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the substance that contains all of the genetic information.

By the 1950s, it was known that DNA is a large molecule, which consists of thousands of small molecules of four different types connected to each other in a line - nucleotides. Scientists also knew that it was DNA that was responsible for storing and inheriting genetic information, similar to a text written in an alphabet of four letters. The spatial structure of this molecule and the mechanisms by which DNA is inherited from cell to cell and from organism to organism remained unknown.

In 1948, Linus Pauling discovered the spatial structure of other macromolecules - proteins and created a model of the structure, called the "alpha helix".

Pauling also believed that DNA is a helix, moreover, consisting of three strands. However, he could not explain either the nature of such a structure or the mechanisms of DNA self-duplication for transmission to daughter cells.

The double-stranded structure was discovered after Maurice Wilkins secretly showed Watson and Crick an x-ray of a DNA molecule taken by his collaborator Rosalind Franklin. In this picture, they clearly recognized the signs of a spiral and went to the laboratory to check everything on a three-dimensional model.

In the laboratory, it turned out that the workshop did not supply the metal plates necessary for the stereo model, and Watson cut out four types of nucleotide mockups from cardboard - guanine (G), cytosine (C), thymine (T) and adenine (A) - and began to lay them out on the table . And then he discovered that adenine combines with thymine, and guanine with cytosine according to the "key-lock" principle. It is in this way that two strands of the DNA helix are connected to each other, that is, opposite thymine from one strand there will always be adenine from the other, and nothing else.

This arrangement made it possible to explain the mechanisms of DNA copying: two strands of the helix diverge, and an exact copy of its former "partner" in the helix is ​​completed from nucleotides to each of them. By the same principle as a positive is printed from a negative in a photograph.

Although Franklin did not support the hypothesis of the helical structure of DNA, it was her pictures that played a decisive role in the discovery of Watson and Crick. Rosalind did not live to see the award that Wilkins, Watson and Crick received.

Obviously, the discovery of the spatial structure of DNA revolutionized the world of science and led to a number of new discoveries, without which it is impossible to imagine not only modern science, but also modern life in general.

In the sixties of the last century, the assumption of Watson and Crick about the mechanism of DNA replication (doubling) was fully confirmed. In addition, it was shown that a special protein, DNA polymerase, takes part in this process.

Around the same time, another important discovery was made - the genetic code. As mentioned above, DNA contains information about everything that is inherited, including the linear structure of every protein in the body. Proteins, like DNA, are long chains of amino acids. There are 20 of these amino acids. Accordingly, it was not clear how the "language" of DNA, which consists of a four-letter alphabet, is translated into the "language" of proteins, which uses 20 "letters".

It turned out that a combination of three DNA nucleotides clearly corresponds to one of the 20 amino acids. And, thus, "written" on DNA is unambiguously translated into protein.

In the seventies, two more important methods appeared, based on the discovery of Watson and Crick. This is sequencing and obtaining recombinant DNA. Sequencing allows you to "read" the sequence of nucleotides in DNA. It is on this method that the entire program "Human Genome" is based.

Obtaining recombinant DNA is otherwise called molecular cloning. The essence of this method is that a fragment containing a specific gene is inserted into the DNA molecule. In this way, for example, bacteria are obtained which contain the gene for human insulin. Insulin obtained in this way is called recombinant. All "genetically modified foods" are created by the same method.

Paradoxically, reproductive cloning, which everyone is talking about now, appeared before the structure of DNA was discovered. It is clear that now scientists conducting such experiments are actively using the results of the discovery of Watson and Crick. But, initially, the method was not based on it.

The next important step in science was the development in the eighties of the polymerase chain reaction. This technology is used to quickly "replicate" the desired DNA fragment and has already found many applications in science, medicine and technology. In medicine, PCR is used to quickly and accurately diagnose viral diseases. If in the mass of DNA obtained from the analysis of the patient, even in a minimal amount, there are genes brought by the virus, then using PCR it is possible to achieve their "multiplication" and then it is easy to identify.

A.V. Engström of the Karolinska Institute said at the awards ceremony: "The discovery of the spatial molecular structure ... DNA is extremely important, because it outlines the possibilities for understanding in great detail the general and individual characteristics of all living things." Engström noted that "deciphering the double helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid with a specific pairing of nitrogenous bases opens up fantastic opportunities for unraveling the details of the control and transmission of genetic information."

James Watson is a pioneer in molecular biology who, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, is credited with discovering the DNA double helix. In 1962, they received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work.

James Watson: biography

Born in Chicago, USA on April 6, 1928. He attended Horace Mann School and then South Shore High School. At the age of 15, he entered the University of Chicago under an experimental scholarship program for gifted children. Interest in bird life led James Watson to study biology, and in 1947 he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology. After reading Erwin Schrödinger's landmark book What is Life? he switched to genetics.

After being rejected by Caltech and Harvard, James Watson won a scholarship to graduate school at Indiana University. In 1950, he was awarded a doctorate in zoology for his work on the effects of X-ray radiation on the reproduction of bacteriophage viruses. From Indiana, Watson moved to Copenhagen and continued his study of viruses as a member of the National Research Council.

Unravel the DNA!

After visiting the New York laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor, where he got acquainted with the results of the research of Hershey and Chase, Watson became convinced that DNA is the molecule responsible for the transmission of genetic information. He was fascinated by the idea that if you understand its structure, you can determine how data is transmitted between cells. Virus research no longer interested him as much as this new direction.

In the spring of 1951, at a conference in Naples, he met Maurice Wilkins. The latter demonstrated the results of the first attempts to use X-ray diffraction to image the DNA molecule. Watson, excited by Wilkins' findings, arrived in Britain in the autumn. He got a job at the Cavendish Laboratory, where he began to collaborate with Francis Crick.

First attempts

In an attempt to unravel the molecular structure of DNA, James Watson and Francis Crick decided to use a model-building approach. Both were convinced that unraveling its structure would play a key role in understanding the transfer of genetic information from parent to daughter cells. Biologists realized that the discovery of the structure of DNA would be a major scientific breakthrough. At the same time, they were aware of the existence of competitors among other scientists, such as Linus Pauling.

Crick and James Watson modeled DNA with great difficulty. None of them had a background in chemistry, so they used standard chemistry textbooks to cut out cardboard chemical bond configurations. A visiting graduate student noted that, according to new data missing from the books, one of his cardboard chemical bonds was used in reverse. Around the same time, Watson attended a lecture by Rosalind Franklin at nearby King's College. Apparently he didn't listen very carefully.

Unforgivable mistake

As a result of the error, scientists' first attempt to build a DNA model failed. James Watson and Francis Crick built a triple helix with nitrogen bases on the outside of the structure. When they presented the model to colleagues, Rosalind Franklin subjected her to harsh criticism. The results of her research clearly proved the existence of two forms of DNA. The wetter one matched the one that Watson and Crick were trying to build, but they created a model of DNA without water present in it. Franklin noted that if her work were correctly interpreted, then the nitrogen bases would be located inside the molecule. Embarrassed by such a public failure, the director of the Cavendish Laboratory recommended that the researchers abandon their approach. Scientists officially took other directions, but in private they continued to think about the problem of DNA.

Peeped discovery

Wilkins, who worked at King's College with Franklin, was in personal conflict with her. Rosalind was so unhappy that she decided to move her research elsewhere. It is not clear how, but Wilkins got his hands on one of her best x-rays of the DNA molecule. She may even have given it to him herself when she was cleaning out her office. But it is certain that he took the image out of the lab without Franklin's permission and showed it to his friend Watson in the Cavendish. Subsequently, in his book The Double Helix, he wrote that at the moment when he saw the picture, his jaw dropped and his pulse quickened. Everything was incredibly simpler than the previously obtained A-form. Also, the black cross of reflections that dominated the photo could only have come from the spiral structure.

Nobel Prize Laureate

The biologists used the new data to create a double-stranded helix model with nitrogenous bases in the A-T and C-G pairs in the center. This pairing immediately suggested to Crick that one side of the molecule could serve as a template for the exact repetition of DNA sequences for the transmission of genetic information during cell division. This second successful model was presented in February 1951. In April 1953 they published their findings in the journal Nature. The article caused a sensation. Watson and Crick found that DNA has the shape of a double helix, or "spiral staircase." Two chains in it were disconnected, like a "lightning", and reproduced the missing parts. Thus, each deoxyribonucleic acid molecule is able to create two identical copies.

The abbreviation DNA and the elegant double helix model have become known throughout the world. Watson and Crick also became famous. Their discovery revolutionized the study of biology and genetics, making possible the genetic engineering methods used in modern biotechnology.

An article in Nature led to them and Wilkins being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. The rules of the Swedish Academy allow no more than three scientists to be awarded. Rosalind Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958. Wilkins mentioned her in passing.

In the year of receiving the Nobel Prize, Watson married Elizabeth Lewis. They had two sons: Rufus and Duncan.

Continuation of work

James Watson continued to work with many other scientists throughout the 1950s. His genius was the ability to coordinate the work of different people and combine their results for new conclusions. In 1952, he used a rotating X-ray anode to demonstrate the helical structure of the tobacco mosaic virus. From 1953 to 1955 Watson collaborated with scientists at the California Institute of Technology to model the structure of RNA. From 1955 to 1956 he again worked with Crick to unravel the principles of the structure of viruses. In 1956 he moved to Harvard, where he researched RNA and protein synthesis.

scandalous chronicle

In 1968, a controversial book about DNA was published by James Watson. The Double Helix was full of derogatory comments and rancorous descriptions of many of the people involved in the discovery, especially Rosalind Franklin. Because of this, Harvard Press refused to print the book. Nevertheless, the work was published and was a great success. In a later revision, Watson apologized for his treatment of Franklin, stating that he was unaware of the pressure she faced in the 1950s as a female explorer. He profited most from the publication of two textbooks, Molecular Biology of the Gene (1965) and Molecular Biology of the Cell and Recombinant DNA (updated 2002), which are still out of print. In 2007, he published his autobiography, Avoid Boring People. Life lessons in science.

James Watson: contribution to science

In 1968 he became director of the laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor. The institute was experiencing financial difficulties at the time, but Watson proved to be very successful in finding donors. The institution headed by him has become a world leader in terms of the level of work in the field of molecular biology. Its employees uncovered the nature of cancer and discovered its genes for the first time. Every year more than 4,000 scientists from all over the world come to Cold Spring Harbor - so deep is the influence of the Institute for International Genetic Research.

In 1990, Watson was appointed director of the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health. He used his fundraising skills to run the project until 1992. He left due to a conflict over the patenting of genetic information. James Watson believed that this would only interfere with the research of the scientists working on the project.

Controversial statements

His stay at Cold Harbor ended abruptly. On October 14, 2007, on his way to a conference in London, he was asked about world events. James Watson, a world-famous scientist, replied that he was overshadowed by the prospects for Africa. According to him, all modern social policy is based on the fact that the intelligence of its inhabitants is the same as that of the rest, but the test results indicate that this is not the case. He continued his thought with the idea that progress in Africa is hampered by poor genetic material. A public outcry against this remark forced Cold Spring Harbor to ask for his resignation. The scientist later apologized and retracted his statements, saying that "there is no scientific basis for this." In his farewell speech, he stated his vision that "ultimate victory (over cancer and mental illness) is within our grasp."

Despite these setbacks, geneticist James Watson continues to make controversial claims today. In September 2013 at the Allen Institute in Seattle, at a brain study meeting, he again made a controversial statement about his belief that the increase in diagnosed hereditary diseases could be due to later childbearing. “The older you get, the more likely you are to have defective genes,” Watson said, also suggesting that genetic material should be collected from people under 15 years of age for further conception through in vitro fertilization. In his opinion, this would reduce the chances that the life of parents will be spoiled by the birth of a child with physical or mental disorders.