Outstanding Papers
in Biology
Introduction to A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid
by J.D. Watson and F.H.C. Crick (pp. 31-33)
by
Editor's Note:
Current Biology Ltd., the publisher of Current Biology
and other journals, compiled the fascinating volume Outstanding Papers in
Biology in 1993. The "outstanding papers" reprinted therein were selected and
introduced by luminaries such as Paul Berg, Francois Jacob, Arthur Kornberg, Joshua Lederberg,
and Max Perutz, to name a few. Although the book is not available commercially, readers of
HMS Beagle can obtain a free copy.
In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published a paper that has
become universally acknowledged as one of the greatest masterpieces in
the history of scientific research. A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic
Acid describes the graceful double helix, the genetic blueprint that
makes each of us who we are. In his introduction, in Outstanding Papers
in Biology, to this paper that changed the world, Sydney Brenner tells
the very personal story of how his own life and work were suddenly and
irrevocably altered by the revelation of DNA.
The contents page of Outstanding Papers in Biology provides complete references for the selected papers, and indicates the name of each selector.
When I went to Oxford in October 1952 to work on bacteriophage with Hinshelwood, it was with the intention of seeing whether physical chemistry could provide help in solving biological problems. I should have gone to study molecular biology but the subject did not yet exist. From my past experience in cytology and cytogenetics, I knew that DNA was the material basis of heredity and that RNA was important for protein synthesis. I had read Schrodinger's book (What is Life? Cambridge; 1944) but, more importantly, I had read von Neuman's article (in Cerebral Mechanisms in Behavior: the Hixon symposium. Edited by Jeffress, L.A.: Hafner Publishing Company, New York; 1951) on the theory of self-reproducing machines. Beyond this, I had many nebulous ideas on how nucleic acids might exert their function and on how we might test them, including one ridiculous proposal that the structure of nucleic acids could be solved by dichroism measurements of DNA complexed with acridine dyes. I met Jack Dunitz and Leslie Orgel in Oxford and we had many interesting discussions on these topics. It was Jack who told me that the structure of DNA had probably been solved by two people in Cambridge, Francis Crick and Jim Watson, and I can remember trying to understand Jack's explanation of Francis' work on helical diffraction.
On a chilly morning in April 1953, with Jack, Leslie and another crystallographer, I went to Cambridge and saw the model and met Francis and Jim. It was the most exciting day of my life. The double helix was a revelatory experience; for me, everything fell into place and my future scientific life was decided there and then.
When the paper appeared a few weeks later, it was not well received by the establishment, composed largely of professional biochemists. They could not see, at the time, how profoundly it would change their subject by offering us a framework for studying the chemistry of biological information.
A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. J.D. Watson and F.H.C. Crick: Nature 1953, 171:737-738.
Sydney Brenner was medically trained in South Africa, spent most of his career carrying out research in Cambridge for the UK Medical Research Council and now is Director of the Molecular Sciences Institute in La Jolla, California. He was working with C.N. Hinshelwood at Oxford University in 1953 when the Watson and Crick paper was first published.
Endlinks
The Grand Profession and the Petty Professionals: Reflections on the Golden Era of Microbiology - HMS Beagle's opinion piece in Issue 9, describing two classic books' coverage of the drama of the emerging field of microbiology - Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis and Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif. Register your vote/see readers' responses on the merit of reading classic science books and papers in our poll.
Nature Past - a wonderful collection of full-text classic science papers originally published in Nature, including Charles Darwin: A great mind remembered and obituary by T.H. Huxley, and a nesting dinosaur fossil photograph. The Web material is excerpted from A Bedside Nature: Genius and Eccentricity in Science, 1869-1953, edited by Walter Gratzer, and can be purchased at the site. (Nature subscribers - #14.95/$24.50; nonsubscribers - #19.95/$29.95.)
Classic Papers in Genetics - links to PDF-format versions of classic papers by Mendel, Bateson, Wright, etc., with helpful annotations about the papers' subjects and import. Link to MendelWeb provides further useful genetic resources including original papers by Mendel.
World Scientific Series in 20th Century Chemistry - this series aims to provide a historical perspective on the development and progress of the varied fields now to be found in chemistry. The Web site lists volumes available for purchasing in collections of the major papers published by great chemists of this century. Topics include molecular structure and thermodynamics, modern alchemy, NMR in structural biology, and organic chemistry.
Evolution CD-ROM by Mark Ridley - published in December 1996 by Blackwell Science, this CD-ROM (based on Ridley's textbook) includes 20 classic papers and text extracts by Darwin, Fisher, Dobzhansky, Gould, and others. The Web site has an ordering button, plus further details of the CD including videos of theorists, animations, virtual experiments, and color images. (#29.50; $59.95 for book and CD.)
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