GENETICS
The genetic blueprint
November 30, -0001 -
British physicist Crick and American postdoctoral student Watson collaborated in Cambridge to solve arguably the most important mystery of biology: the molecular structure of the chemical deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.
Their double-helix model eventually revealed how cells use DNA to store and pass on genetic blueprints – unlocking the key to the mechanisms of heredity and sparking the age of molecular biology
The inspiration came when James Watson shuffled cardboard cutout models of the molecules of the DNA bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine(T). He noticed the complimentary pairing between A with T and C with G, and realized that these could be held together with hydrogen bonds to build a helical structure compatible with the known X-ray data.