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The form in this picture is familiar—it’s a double helix, the basis for life, and we’ve seen it over and over. But in 1952, James Watson and Francis Crick laid eyes on these strands for the very first time.
The X-ray image was captured by Rosalind Franklin. Seeing it for the very first time was no doubt magical and awe-inspiring. The researchers didn’t know much about what they’d discovered, but they knew it was an important moment. Watson later described this groundbreaking moment in his book, Watson and Crick and DNA:
The instant I saw the picture my mouth fell open and my pulse began to race. The pattern was unbelievably simpler than those obtained previously. Moreover, the black cross of reflections which dominated the picture could only arise from a helical structure.
Of course, this snippet of life is undetectable without powerful cameras. Sixty years later, we can strands of DNA in even more detail thanks to scanning electron microscopes, but you never forget your first time. [The Atlantic]
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Leslie – sorry to critique, but I think Rosalind Franklin deserves more of a mention in this article, especially as next year marks the 60th anniversary of the discovery (DNA was recognised in 1953, not 1952).
The Atlantic makes a point about Rosalind Franklin’s vital part in the discovery of DNA, and although she has been better appreciated and recognised by the media in recent years, she still remains an unknown name to the majority because of the sexist and demeaning vitriol imparted to her by her colleagues and Messrs Watson and Crick.
She would have been eligible for the Nobel Prize had she not died of ovarian cancer due to all the radiation she was exposed to whilst capturing the images that made Watson and Crick a household name.