Crick and Watson's discovery of the structure of DNA fifty years ago marked one of the great turning points in the history of science. Biology, immunology, medicine and genetics have all been radically transformed in the succeeding half-century, and the double helix has become an icon of our times. This fascinating exploration of a scientific phenomenon provides a lucid and engaging account of the background and context for the discovery, its significance and afterlife, while a series of essays by leading scientists, historians and commentators offers uniquely individual perspectives on DNA and its impact on modern science and society.
'The editors have crafted a concise, reader-friendly and handsomely illustrated history of the discovery that revolutionized biology...' - Publishers Weekly
'...a superbly illustrated, carefully researched and well-written DNA jubilee book...For me, and probably many other readers who are interested in the history of science, this book provides new insights into understanding what really happened in the first few months of 1953, and who we should remember as providing the decisive data required to elucidate the structure of DNA...50 Years of DNA should find its place on the desks of all those who are interested in history, the current state of DNA research and its future.' - Andrzej Stasiak, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, European Molecular Biology Organization, EMBO reports
Foreword
Remarks from Phil Campbell
Preface; J.Clayton & C.Dennis
PART I: HISTORY
On the Shoulders of Giants : The Quest to Solve DNA?
1953 Revisited
What Happened Next: The Golden Years of Molecular Biology
PART II: THE PRESENT
Where AreThey Now?
Structural Biology: Still Going Strong
Genomes Galore
Window on Evolution 'Artificial Evolution': Maize, Wheat, Rice Domestication
PART III: THE FUTURE
DNA as a Tool in Disease Diagnosis and Therapy
DNA and Culture
The Genie's Out
PART IV: THE DOUBLE HELIX - 50 YEARS
The Eternal Molecule; C.Dennis &P.Campbell
PART V: FACSIMILE PAPERS FROM NATURE, 25 APRIL 1953
A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (Nature 171, 737-738; 1953); J.D.Watson & F.H.C.Crick
Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids (Nature 171, 738-740; 1953); M.H.F.Wilkins, A.R.Stokes & H.R.Wilson
Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate (Nature 171, 740-741; 1953), R.E.Franklin & R.G.Gosling
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Quiet Debut for the Double Helix; R.Olby
Discovering Genes are Made of DNA; M.McCarty
DNA and the 'Wronged Heroine'; B.Maddox
PART VI: DNA IN MEDICINE AND SOCIETY
The Mosaic That is Our Genome; S.Pääbo
Nature, Nurture and Human Disease; A.Chakravarti & P.Little
The Double Helix in Clinical Practice; J.I.Bell
The Mona Lisa of Modern Science; M.Kemp
PART VII: DNA: THE BIOLOGICAL MOLECULE
Portrait of a Molecule; P.Ball
Ten Years of Tension: Single-Molecule DNA Mechanics; C.Bustamante,
Z.Bryant & S.B.Smith
DNA in a Material World; N.C.Seeman
DNA Replication and Recombination; B.Alberts
DNA Damage and Repair; E.C.Freidberg
The Double Helix and Immunology; G.J.V.Nossal
The Digital Code of DNA; L.Hood & D.Galas
Controlling the Double Helix; G.Felsenfeld & M.Groudine
JULIE CLAYTON has a PhD in cancer research and immunology, and did four years' postdoctoral research in Los Angeles and London before embarking on a career as a freelance science writer. She has worked for the journal Nature as a science writer and immunology manuscript editor, as an assistant producer for the BBC on television documentaries and reports for Horizon and Tomorrow's World, on the medical biography series Pioneers and on natural history films, and has also written for New Scientist and other scientific journals and websites.
CARINA DENNIS in now a freelance science writer based in Australia, having previously worked in Washington DC as Senior Editor at Nature responsible for genetics and genomics, and in New York City at Nature Genetics. She has a D Phil from the University of Oxford and is co-editor with Richard Gallagher of The Human Genome, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2001.
Description
Crick and Watson's discovery of the structure of DNA fifty years ago marked one of the great turning points in the history of science. Biology, immunology, medicine and genetics have all been radically transformed in the succeeding half-century, and the double helix has become an icon of our times. This fascinating exploration of a scientific phenomenon provides a lucid and engaging account of the background and context for the discovery, its significance and afterlife, while a series of essays by leading scientists, historians and commentators offers uniquely individual perspectives on DNA and its impact on modern science and society.
Reviews
'The editors have crafted a concise, reader-friendly and handsomely illustrated history of the discovery that revolutionized biology...' - Publishers Weekly
'...a superbly illustrated, carefully researched and well-written DNA jubilee book...For me, and probably many other readers who are interested in the history of science, this book provides new insights into understanding what really happened in the first few months of 1953, and who we should remember as providing the decisive data required to elucidate the structure of DNA...50 Years of DNA should find its place on the desks of all those who are interested in history, the current state of DNA research and its future.' - Andrzej Stasiak, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, European Molecular Biology Organization, EMBO reports
Contents
Foreword
Remarks from Phil Campbell
Preface; J.Clayton & C.Dennis
PART I: HISTORY
On the Shoulders of Giants : The Quest to Solve DNA?
1953 Revisited
What Happened Next: The Golden Years of Molecular Biology
PART II: THE PRESENT
Where AreThey Now?
Structural Biology: Still Going Strong
Genomes Galore
Window on Evolution 'Artificial Evolution': Maize, Wheat, Rice Domestication
PART III: THE FUTURE
DNA as a Tool in Disease Diagnosis and Therapy
DNA and Culture
The Genie's Out
PART IV: THE DOUBLE HELIX - 50 YEARS
The Eternal Molecule; C.Dennis &P.Campbell
PART V: FACSIMILE PAPERS FROM NATURE, 25 APRIL 1953
A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (Nature 171, 737-738; 1953); J.D.Watson & F.H.C.Crick
Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids (Nature 171, 738-740; 1953); M.H.F.Wilkins, A.R.Stokes & H.R.Wilson
Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate (Nature 171, 740-741; 1953), R.E.Franklin & R.G.Gosling
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Quiet Debut for the Double Helix; R.Olby
Discovering Genes are Made of DNA; M.McCarty
DNA and the 'Wronged Heroine'; B.Maddox
PART VI: DNA IN MEDICINE AND SOCIETY
The Mosaic That is Our Genome; S.Pääbo
Nature, Nurture and Human Disease; A.Chakravarti & P.Little
The Double Helix in Clinical Practice; J.I.Bell
The Mona Lisa of Modern Science; M.Kemp
PART VII: DNA: THE BIOLOGICAL MOLECULE
Portrait of a Molecule; P.Ball
Ten Years of Tension: Single-Molecule DNA Mechanics; C.Bustamante,
Z.Bryant & S.B.Smith
DNA in a Material World; N.C.Seeman
DNA Replication and Recombination; B.Alberts
DNA Damage and Repair; E.C.Freidberg
The Double Helix and Immunology; G.J.V.Nossal
The Digital Code of DNA; L.Hood & D.Galas
Controlling the Double Helix; G.Felsenfeld & M.Groudine
Authors
JULIE CLAYTON has a PhD in cancer research and immunology, and did four years' postdoctoral research in Los Angeles and London before embarking on a career as a freelance science writer. She has worked for the journal Nature as a science writer and immunology manuscript editor, as an assistant producer for the BBC on television documentaries and reports for Horizon and Tomorrow's World, on the medical biography series Pioneers and on natural history films, and has also written for New Scientist and other scientific journals and websites.
CARINA DENNIS in now a freelance science writer based in Australia, having previously worked in Washington DC as Senior Editor at Nature responsible for genetics and genomics, and in New York City at Nature Genetics. She has a D Phil from the University of Oxford and is co-editor with Richard Gallagher of The Human Genome, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2001.
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