50 Years of DNA

1. Front Matter

   Pages 1-6

   PDF

2. On the shoulders of giants

   • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

   Pages 7-11

3. The triumph of 1953

   • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

   Pages 12-25

4. The golden years of molecular biology

   • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

   Pages 26-35

5. Where are they now?

   • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

   Pages 36-48

6. Crystal gazing

   • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

   Pages 49-53

7. Genomes galore

   • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

   Pages 54-57

8. Tracing human origins

   • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

   Pages 58-63

9. Gene detectives

   • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

   Pages 64-68

10. DNA in culture

    • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

    Pages 69-74

11. The genie is out

    • Julie Clayton, Carina Dennis

    Pages 75-81

12. The eternal molecule

    • Carina Dennis, Philip Campbell, J. D. Watson, F. H. C. Crick, M. H. F. Wilkins, A. R. Stokes et al.

    Pages 82-139

13. Back Matter

    Pages 140-144

    PDF

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.

• biology
• DNA
• history of science
• molecular biology
• nucleic acid
• structural biology

'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

BRUCE ALBERTS, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, USA PHILIP BALL JOHN BELL, University of Oxford, UK ZEV BRYANT, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, University of California, USA CARLOS BUSTAMANTE, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Department of Physics at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, USA ARAVINDA CHAKRAVARTI , McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA GARY FELSENFELD, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, USA ERROL FRIEDBERG, Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA DAVID GALAS, Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Sciences, USA MARK GROUDINE, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Washington USA LEROY HOOD, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, USA MARTIN KEMP, Department of the History of Art, University of Oxford and Wallace Kemp, London, UK PETER LITTLE, School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia BRENDA MADDOX MACLYN MCCARTY, Rockefeller University, USA GUSTAV NOSSAL, Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Australia ROBERT OLBY, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, USA SVANTE PÄÄBO, Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany NADRIAN SEEMAN, Department of Chemistry, New York University, USA STEVEN SMITH, Department of Physics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, USA

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