Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics
Structural Model for DNA
The 1953 paper, "A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid," published by James Watson and Francis Crick in the journal Nature, marked a turning point in our understanding of the structural basis for genetics. Extensive use of models and the crystallography data of Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin enabled Watson and Crick to propose the double helical structure that is so easily recognized today. Their proposal accounted for the equal stochiometry of adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine observed by Erwin Chargaff and suggested immediately "a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material."Full text of the Watson and Crick paper is available from the LionBook Web Site.
American Scientist offers an account of research into the genetic code.