In his autobiography on the discovery of the double helix, James D. Watson describes the process that he and Francis Crick took on in order to make the revolutionary discovery of the basic building block of the natural world, DNA. After reading, my perspective has changed in the following ways: I now understand the research, competition, and exhaustion that went into the discovery, I understand how truly groundbreaking a discovery it was, and how it changed the sciences of biology and chemistry for the better. In the past, DNA was just a subject in my biology classes that we referred to when we were talking about seemingly more important topics, specifically genetics. However, I never fully understood the measures taken to achieve the knowledge …show more content…
Although the autobiography touches on some adventures Watson had taken during his time during research at the lab, the immensely hard work of the discovery is not overlooked in the book. After reading this, I now understand what took place in order for the double helix to be discovered, and how the discovery journey was not accomplished easily. I believe that DNA is sometimes overlooked in the grand scheme of science, especially since it has become so normalized inside and outside of the classroom. In the entirety of my education, I have never been taught about how DNA was discovered, just what it is composed of and the purpose it serves in living things. However, after reading the book, I’ve reached a new understanding of how groundbreaking this discovery was, especially using the technology of the 1950’s to form research and data. For example, in the book there were images of the alpha and beta particles as well as proof of the double …show more content…
Because we can understand the makeup of DNA, we can now be more aware of what diseases we could be susceptible to and what diseases we could experience in the future, proving the weight that the double helix has in today's world. My perception of the double helix’s effect on biology and chemistry has also been altered after reading this book. Since DNA not only allowed for better understanding of genes as well as their genotypes and phenotypes, the double helix allowed for the bases of DNA, adenine (A), guanine (G), thymine (T), and cytosine (C), to be better understood and the chemical breakdown of each. Additionally, biologists were able to figure out animal ancestry using DNA and were able to see the gene similarities and differences from species to species. Similarly, scientists were now able to alter and adjust a species DNA so that a species could inherit mutations that could benefit their adaptation and lifestyle. What I believe to be the double helix’s biggest contribution to both society and the scientific world is the ability to produce effective pharmaceuticals to prevent and protect people from disease, some of which are now easier to detect by viewing the genetic
James Watson: He can be seen as someone who is quick to judge, somewhat condescending, yet intelligent, suave, and dedicated to his work.
Ted Bieler’s Helix of Life (1971) that is located outside the Medical Sciences building at University of Toronto is a sculpture made from a light grey concrete material. Its color appears to be plain which happens to match the exterior of the Medical Sciences building as well. Due to the age of the sculpture, it shows lighter and darker gray dents and streaks near the top and bottom and where it bends. Some of the markings have been made from the material and texture of the sculpture. The material used, which was said previously, is cast concrete. Using concrete without any smooth surface tools creates a rougher and coarse texture which is why it has dents and holes when viewing it up close. As the viewer looks at the sculpture from afar, its
With a competitive spirit, people are driven to act in ways that they would not otherwise and the results can be drastic. In the case of James D. Watson and Francis Crick, in Watson’s novel the Double Helix, this sensation of competition leads to one of the greatest discoveries in biology. But the actions of Watson, Crick, and their competitors may or may not be justified for the results that they yield; the powerful conflict of rivalry has beneficial, detrimental, and questionably moral consequences that shaped the pathway to DNA’s structure.
The book Rosalind Franklin and DNA is a biography of Rosalind Franklin written by a British journalist and close friend of hers, Anne Sayre to reveal the true personality of Rosalind Franklin in contradiction to the fallacious character portrayed by James Watson in his personal account of The Double Helix. This book was undertaken to refute Franklin’s distorted portrait from abnormal feminist into rational, perfectionist and talented ‘women’ scientist. She begins by introducing her strong background, curious childhood, dedicated education, generous nature and most importantly how she was brought up in a favorable environment of distinctive Angelo-Jewish family, who identified and cultivated her talents and developed her in a person with full capacity for commitment. In this book, despite admiring the geniuses of Watson in depicting and picking out small information, connecting points and the kind of abilities he possessed was perfectly factitive with Crick that Rosalind and Gosling lacked however, she constantly tries to put the Rosalind’s side of story in picture which she believes was minimized in The Double Helix by Watson and correct her character that distorted in public eye.
The book Genome by Matt Ridley tells the story of the relationship between genome and life by examining the twenty three chromosomes of the human DNA. Each chromosome literally and metaphorically becomes a chapter in the literal and metaphorical book of DNA. In this book of DNA, Ridley examines a particular aspect of the chromosomes chapter by chapter to see how it affects life and humanity’s understanding of life, humans and genetics itself. Although each chapter dives into different aspects of DNA and gathers stories as varied as the genes’ applications, Ridley connects them with important ideas about life and humanity’s understanding of life.
"The discovery of the structure by Crick and Watson, with all its biological implications, has been one of the major scientific events of this century." (Bragg, The Double Helix, p1) In the story of The Double Helix, James Watson tells of the road that led to the discovery of life's basic building block-DNA. This autobiography gives insight into science and the workings within a professional research laboratory that few members of society will ever be able to experience. It also gives the reader an idea of the reality of life for one scientist and how he struggled with the problem of DNA. However, the author's style is marked by his lack of objectivity and inclusion of many biased opinions and personal prejudices.
James D. Watson is a molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist. He is well known as one of the two men who discovered DNA. The other man who helped discover DNA is Francis Crick. Francis is a biologist, neurologist and a biophysicist.
James Watson, the co-discoverer of DNA, believes it to be the responsibility of science to address the
Henry Cavendish was born October 10, 1731 in Nice, France. His mother, Lady Anne Grey was the daughter of the first Duke of Kent while his father Lord Charles Cavendish, was second Duke of Devonshire. His ancestry links back to many of the aristocratic families in Great Britain. The chemist/physicist is most accredited for the discovery of hydrogen, the “inflammable air” and measuring the Earth’s density, but he also researched and discovered many other important scientific revolutions.
Simply put, DNA contains the instructions needed for an organism to develop, survive, and reproduce. The discovery and use of DNA has seen many changes and made great progress over many years. James Watson was a pioneer molecular biologist who is credited, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, with discovering the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. The three won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962 for their work (Bagley, 2013). Scientists use the term “double helix” to describe DNA’s winding, two-stranded chemical structure.
Before the twentieth century no one knew where human life or genes came from as this information was unknown to the world. There were many scientists involved in establishing genetics. The discovery of the double helix and DNA has helped to shape the world of genetics as we know it today. The discovery of the double helix was the most important medical finding in human history because it opened the gateway to gene testing, gene mapping, and genetic engineering. James Dewey Watson was a very educated child from a young age.
The Double Helix tells a tale of fierce competition, perseverance, and scientific innovation as we follow James Watson and his cohort Francis Crick on their quest to discover the secret to life, the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid. Although already fascinated with DNA, Watson struggled with finding chemistry exciting enough to learn it in depth. He had studied birds in college and thereby managed to avoid any formal chemistry or physics courses. As he later pursued a PhD in biochemistry, he realized he could put it off no longer and attempted to learn organic chemistry at Indiana University. However, after a mishap in the lab, he was encouraged instead to study nucleic acid chemistry with Herman Kalckar in Copenhagen. There, his mind strayed from his work and he began doing unauthorized research in the lab of Ole Maaløe, studying phages. Herman stopped teaching Watson after going through a divorce with his wife, and sent Watson off to a scientific conference in Naples. Although he was bored by many of the lectures, Maurice Wilkins’s talk about X-ray diffraction fascinated Watson. He was struck by an X-ray diffraction picture of DNA that Maurice presented and was determined to study the acid. He later got to know more about Maurice’s colleague, Rosalind Franklin, who was proud, stubborn, and very difficult to work with. Watson greatly admired the lecture given by the renowned Linus Pauling, who had discovered the structure of the alpha-helix and was thought of as the leader in DNA research in the scientific world.
They gave people a new understanding of heredity. They determined that DNA was two chains, of alternating phosphate and sugar groups, twisted around each other. Better known as double helixes, these chains were held together by hydrogen bonds between pairs of organic bases which were adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. The name of my constellation is Orion.
James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA, but only by drawing on the work of many scientists who came before them. (Maddox, 2003) In 1944, Oswald T. Avery, Colin M. MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty published “Studies on the Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing Transformation of Pneumococcal Types”, which was the first scientific work to identify DNA as the molecule that carried genetic information, and became a breakthrough at that time. (Avery, Macleod, & McCarty, 1944) Before Avery and coworkers published their paper, there was very little interest in DNA among scientists in the field of genetics. Very little was known about DNA, however, early analyses suggested that it was a very simple molecule, at least in terms of its chemical composition. This view was best embodied by the so-called “tetranucleotide hypothesis”, which held that DNA was composed of equal amounts of four nucleotides, adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine. (Fredholm, 2003) DNA was thought to be “too simple” as a molecule to carry so much genetic information. Instead, there was much interest in proteins as the chemical identity of genes, which was understandable in light of the tetranucleotide hypothesis. In contrast to the supposed simplicity of DNA, proteins, composed of varying amounts of 20 amino acids, appeared to possess the chemical diversity required to function as genes.
...f the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 that was extremely influential for future researchers. They determined that DNA was a double helix structure composed of base pairings, with a sugar phosphate backbone. This model explained how “genes can duplicate themselves [and] would eventually lead to our current understanding of many things, from genetic disease to genetic engineering” (Salem).