DNA
Year of Discovery: 1953
What Is It? The molecular structure of, and shape of, the molecule that carries
the genetic information for every living organism.
Who Discovered It? Francis Crick and James Watson
Why Is This One of the 100 Greatest?
British biochemist Francis Crick, and his American partner, James Watson, created the
first accurate model of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, the master code to the building and operation of all living organisms. That discovery has been
called by many “the most significant discovery of the century.”
This discovery of the details of the DNA molecule’s structure allowed medical scientists to understand, and to develop cures for, many deadly diseases. Millions of lives have
been saved. Now DNA evidence is commonly used in court. This discovery has also led to
the unraveling of the human genome and promises to lead to cures for a wide variety of
other serious aliments and birth defects.
Crick’s discoveries relating to DNA structure and function reshaped the study of genetics, virtually created the field of molecular biology, and gave new direction to a host of
endeavors in various fields of medicine.
How Was It Discovered?
The room looked like a tinker toy party gone berserk, like the playroom of overactive
second-grade boys. Complex mobiles of wire, colored beads, strips of sheet metal, cardboard cutouts, wooden dowels, and wooden balls dangled from the ceiling like a forest of
psychedelic stalactites. Construction supplies, scissors, and tin snips were strewn about the
desks and floor, as were pages of complex equations, stacks of scientific papers, and photographic sheets of fuzzy X-ray crystallography images.
The room was really the second-floor office shared by graduate students Francis Crick
and James Watson in a 300-year-old building on the campus of Cambridge University. The
year was 1953. The mobiles were not the idle toys of students with too much free time.
Rather, they were a frantic effort to win the