Figure 20.1 Ray Gosling’s X-ray photograph of ‘crystalline’ DNA (Nobel Foundation)
Figure 20.2 Francis Crick (Hans Boye/MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology)
Figure 20.3 Rosalind Franklin (Elliott & Fry/National Portrait Gallery)
Figure 21.1 B299: X-ray photograph of DNA, taken by Elwyn Beighton (Special Collections, Leeds Unversity Library)
Figure 22.1 James D. Watson (Hans Boye/MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology)
Figure 24.1 The B form of DNA: Photograph 51 and the X-ray diffraction pattern of squid sperm (King’s College Archives and Nobel Foundation)
Figure 24.2 Hydrogen bonding linking adenine with thymine and cytosine with guanine, to bridge the two helical strands of DNA (The Double Helix, 1968)
Figure 24.3 Jim Watson and Francis Crick with their model of the double helix (Science Photo Library)
Figure 24.4 Schematic drawing of the double helix (The Double Helix, 1968)
Figure 25.1 Mechanism of duplication of the two strands of DNA (The Double Helix, 1968)
Figure 25.2 The double helix, refined by Maurice Wilkins (Nobel Foundation)
Figure 25.3 Francis Crick, Jim Watson and Maurice Wilkins with the other Nobel laureates, 1962 (Science Photo Library)
Figure 26.1 Colin MacCleod and Maclyn McCarty at the inauguration of the Avery Memorial Gateway, Rockefeller University (Rockefeller University Archives)
INDEX
“Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.”
Page numbers in bold refer to figures.
adenine
Kossel’s isolation of 71, 72
pairing with thymine 248, 324, 338, 339, 340–41
presence in animal and yeast cells 73, 74
purine base 75
structure 76, 76
Agol, Israel 169, 171
alkaptonuria 58
alleles 60
Alloway, Lionel 150–51
alpha-helix 253, 291–92, 323
Altmann, Richard 75
amino acids 71, 72, 80, 115, 164, 235, 246, 253, 291–92, 353
ancient DNA 3
Annals and Magazine of Natural History 23
antibody research 133–35, 144, 146–48, 149–50, 178–79
aperiodic crystals 193, 234–35, 267
Appleton, Edward 227–28
Arrowsmith (Lewis) 300
Ascoli, Alfredo 73–74
Astbury-Bell model of thymonucleic acid 161–62, 162
Astbury, Dr William (Bill) T.
background 123
Cambridge post, failure to get 127
character 125, 158–59, 378
conference presentations
Cold Spring Harbor Conference (1938) 164–65
Seventh International Genetical Conference (1939) 166–67
Society for Experimental Biology symposium (1946) 224–25
Stazione Zoologica conference (1951) 286–87
Third Conference on Industrial Physics (1939) 165–66
death 378
Harvey Lecture 258–59
keratin’s helical structure 250–51
Leeds – University
Beighton’s DNA photograph 288–90, 289
Department of Biomolecular Structure 223–24
DNA structure proposal 159–63, 162, 164, 224–25, 235
letter to Avery 222–23
move to 128
MRC grant, disappointment about 233–34
natural fibres research 155–58
protein synthesis theory 164–65
virus research 166–67
London – Royal Institution
‘Astbury-Yardley Tables’ 124
Bragg’s research group 123–26
concerns about leaving 154
human hair X-ray photograph 128, 129, 154–55
‘molecular biology,’ invention of term 223, 224, 378–79
Mozart’s hair 378
obituary by Bernal 379
overview of xviii
photograph 124
Royal Society Fellowship and Croonian Lecture 223, 224
Second World War work 196, 223
‘Astbury-Yardley Tables’ 124
Avery, Dr Oswald T.
accolades
Gold Medal of the New York Academy of Medicine 218
Honorary Doctorate from Cambridge 221
Lasker Award 221
Nobel Prize nominations 374
Pasteur Medal 374
posthumous 375
Royal Society Copley Medal 221
Royal Society Foreign Membership 221
appearance 144–45
background and education 143–44
character 145–46, 217–18
final illness and death 374–75
influence and legacy 222
overview of xviii
photograph 145
photograph of Griffith 214, 222
pneumococcal transformation, acceptance of 151, 152
pneumococcal transformation, scepticism of 148
retirement 221–22, 373–74
Rockefeller Institute, New York
DNA identified as ‘transforming principle’ 206–10
Burnet’s reaction 215
Coburn’s reaction 215–16
J. of Experimental Medicine paper 210–11, 212, 216
Mirsky’s ridicule of 211, 212, 216–17
other scientists’ belief in 237–38, 239–40, 301
reports to Rockefeller Institute 211–12
lab practices 145
McCarty’s induction 200, 201
Member Emeritus status at Rockefeller 210
move to Rockefeller 144
partnership with Dochez 146
pneumococci antibody research 146–48
‘Red Seal’ discourses 147–48, 201
sick leave 148, 149, 151
single-bacterium culture method 149
transforming principle research 178, 179–83, 205–10
Avery, Roy 144, 146, 301, 373
bacteriophages 219, 300–301
Baeyer, Adolf 77, 78, 107
Banks, Sir Joseph 24
Barcroft, Joseph 204
Barkla,J.C. 98–99
base-pairing 6, 6, 8, 247–48, 324–25, 338–39, 339, 340, 347, 372
bases
in Astbury-Bell model of thymonucleic acid 160–62, 162, 164, 275
Chargaff’s Rules 246–48, 247
in Creeth’s DNA model 260, 261
in Crick–Watson DNA model 338, 339, 340, 346
in early Crick–Watson DNA models 309, 337
families 75
in Fraser’s DNA model 307
in Furberg’s DNA model 261, 261, 285
hydrogen bonding 242, 260, 338
keto form 338
Kossel’s research 70–75
in nucleotide structure 90–91
number in human genome 4
in protein synthesis 353
ratios in DNA 220–21, 235, 246–47, 247, 288–89, 324, 329
structures 75–76, 76
in tetranucleotide hypothesis 91, 91
in Wilkins’ refinement of Crick–Watson DNA model 354
Bateson, William 58–59, 109–10, 169
Bathybius haeckelii 27
Bauer, Franz 26
Baurhenn, Wilhelm 152
Bausteine
of nucleic acids 86, 91
of nuclein 71–72, 73–74, 78
of nucleotides 90–91
of proteins 71, 72, 80, 115; see also amino acids
Beighton, Elwyn xviii, 196, 224, 288–90, 289, 378
Bell, Florence 159–63, 162, 164, 165–66, 196, 224
Benary, Ernst 36–37
Bernal, John Desmond
1949 visit to Soviet Union 257
on Astbury’s character 158–59
on Astbury’s Leeds post 154–55
Astbury’s obituary 379
>
background and education 123
Cambridge University, Bernal’s lab
Cambridge Scientists Anti-War Group 190
lectureship post 127
protein X-ray crystallography 255
successes 254
Wilkins’ disappointment in 189–90
X-ray diffraction on thymonucleic acid 160
character 123, 380
Communism 123, 190, 198, 254, 257, 380–81
death 381
Franklin’s obituary 360
Franklin’s respect for 356
London – Birkbeck College
Franklin’s transfer to 321–22
labs and atmosphere 256
move to 255
nucleotide X-ray crystallography 255
London – Royal Institution 123–26
obituary by Hodgkin 381
overview of xviii-xix
personal life 381
Royal Society Fellowship 198, 255
Second World War work 195–96, 255
Social Function of Science, The (Bernal) 198
strokes 381
Vavilov, failure to help 198, 231
Watson’s book 366
Bessel, Friedrich 294–95
Bessel function 295
biophysics see molecular biology
Blake, William 371
Bohr, Niels 114, 176, 301
Boivin, André 237–38, 244–45, 314
‘Boivin-Vendrely Rule’ 244
Boone, Dr D.W. 69
Boot, Harry 185, 188, 191, 194, 227
Borodin, Alexander 81
Boveri, Theodor 55–56
Bragg, Robert 98, 102, 103
Bragg, Sir Lawrence
accolades
Barnard Gold Medal 102
Copley Medal 380
Military Cross 106
Nobel Prize 103, 106
OBE 106
birth 98
broken elbow 98
Cambridge – Cavendish
Laboratory
appointed Director 187
Bragg’s Law 100
DNA structure research, overseeing
allowing to restart 330, 335
Crick and Cochrane’s work on Vand’s theorem 307
Crick–Watson model, second 340, 348
Crick–Watson paper for Nature 344
moratorium on 310
MRC Unit for the Study of
the Molecular Structure of
Biological Systems 272–73
Pauling’s alpha-helix, reaction to 291–92
Pauling’s DNA model, reaction to 330
X-ray crystallography work 99–102
character 273
conference presentations
Pasadena Conference (1953) 352
Second International Crystallography Congress (1951) 291
Crick, opinion of 273–74, 371
death 380
education 99
First World War sound-ranging research 102–3
London – Royal Institution 379
Manchester – University
move to 126
Pauling’s visit 254
X-ray crystallography work 126
name 97
Nature, crystallography paper in 101
overview of xix
Patterson function, view of 292
Pauling, rivalry with 253–54
photograph 98
Randall, low opinion of 185
Watson, opinion of 371
Watson’s book 364–65
Watson’s opinion of 303–4
Wilkins’ Nobel Prize nomination 363–64
Wilkins’ Royal Society Fellowship 353
X-Rays and Crystal Structure (Bragg and Bragg) 102
Bragg, Sir William
accolades
Barnard Gold Medal 102
Nobel Prize 103, 106
Royal Society Fellowship 99
Adelaide – University of South
Australia 97–99
Astbury, recommending for Leeds post 128
background and education 97
Barkla, disputes with 98–99
character 122, 125–26
death 196
family 98
First World War submarine research 102
Leeds – University 99–100
London – Royal Institution
1919 Christmas Lectures 119
Astbury’s human hair photograph 128
crystallography research group 122–26
Directorship 120, 122–23
London – University College 106, 120
name 97
overview of xix
photograph 98
Solvay Conference (1913) 101
son Bob’s death 103
X-ray spectrometer, invention of 100
X-Rays and Crystal Structure (Bragg and Bragg) 102
Bragg’s Law 100
BRCA1 gene 1–2, 3–4, 5–7
Brenner, Sydney 352, 387
Bridges, Calvin 64, 65, 68, 116, 254
British Medical Journal 213
British Society for Social Responsibility in Science 381, 382
Brockway, Lawrence 252
Brown, Robert 23–26, 25
Brownian motion 24
Burnet, Sir Macfarlane 215, 222
Carlisle, Harry 257
Carnegie, Andrew 173
Carnrick, John 22
Caspar, Don 357, 358, 359
Caspersson, Torbjörn 160, 161, 164, 374
Cavendish, Sir Henry 120
cell division 28–29, 30–33, 31, 32
centriole 32, 33
Chargaff, Erwin
background 238
bitterness 364, 377
character 238–39, 325, 364, 377–78
Crick, opinion of 325
death 378
Gordon Conference (1951) 296
Gulland’s death 244
Heraclitean Fire 377
meeting with Watson and Crick 324–25
National Medal of Science 377
New York – Columbia University
Astbury’s visit 288
Avery paper’s impact on 222
Avery’s findings, research confirming 238–40
Chargaff’s Rules 246–48, 247
purified DNA gift to Astbury 288–89
purified DNA gift to Wilkins 296
tetranucleotide hypothesis, research disproving 245–48, 247
Wilkins’ visit 296
Nobel Prize, complaint about not receiving 364
overview of xix Pasteur Medal 377
photograph 239
retirement 377–78
Watson, opinion of 325, 367, 370
Chargaff’s Rules 246–48, 247, 324, 325, 329, 334, 338, 342
Chidgey, Patricia 354–55
chlorine gas 103–4
chromatids 32, 34
chromatin 21, 32, 34–35, 204, 259; see also nuclein
chromosin 204–5, 216
chromosomal maps 67–68, 116
chromosomes
banding patterns 34
during cell division 30–33, 31, 32, 160
chromatin/nuclein as main component 34–35
duplication 314
hereditary material 68, 109–10, 116; see also DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
Hertwig’s fertilisation research 53–54
Morgan’s fruit fly mutation research 63–68, 105, 109–10, 110, 116
mutations 34, 65–68, 109–10, 110, 116, 225, 230
numbers 33–34
sizes and shapes 34
Sturtevant’s mapping studies 67–68
Sutton-Boveri theory of inheritance 55–56
Sutton’s fertilisation research 54–55
term, invention of 32
Van Beneden’s fertilisation research 54
X and Y 67
Churchill, Winston 102, 272
Ciba Symposium 357–58
clupein 165
Coburn, Alvin
215–16
Cochrane, Bill 307
Cold Spring Harbor Symposia
1938 164–65
1946 219, 220
1947
Boivin’s talk 237–38
Chargaff’s talk 238–39
Gulland’s talk 240, 241–43
Mirsky’s talk 236–37
proceedings dedicated to Gulland 244
1953 352
Cole, Dr Rufus 87, 144, 177
Conference on Hybridisation and Plant Breeding, Third 58–59
Conference on Industrial Physics, Third 165–66
Corey, Robert B. 330
Cornford, F. M. 373
Correns, Carl 56, 57
Coulson, Charles 281
Creeth, Michael xx, 241–42, 260, 261
Crick, Francis
accolades
Nobel Prize 361, 363, 364
Royal Society Fellowship 353
appearance 7
background 268–69
Cambridge – Cavendish Laboratory
Chargaff, meeting with 324
DNA replication mechanism 351, 351
DNA structure research
base-pairing 324–25, 339
Crick–Watson DNA model, final 7–8, 338–40, 339, 341, 372–73
Crick–Watson DNA model, first 308–10
Eagle pub announcement 338, 368
London–Cambridge Rat Race 330–31, 332, 335
Nature 25 April 1953 paper 7, 344, 346–47
Wilkins’ letter from Zurich 325
Wilkins, talks with 304–5
X-ray diffraction pattern 307
genetic code research 353
move to 271
protein structure research 310, 323
transferRNA (tRNA) 353
virus structure research 352
Cambridge – Strangeways Research Laboratory 270
character 273
death 384
education 269
Franklin’s closeness to solving DNA structure 371
Lawrence Bragg’s dislike of 273–74
opinions about 273
overview of xix-xx
Pauling–Corey DNA model 330
photograph 269
relationships
Franklin 358, 359
Watson 303, 369
Wilkins 268, 270, 274–75, 299, 311, 322, 383–84
San Diego – Salk Institute 383
Second World War work 269–70
Watson’s book 364, 365–66, 368
Watson’s RNA research at Caltech 352
Crick, Odile (née Speed) 268, 270, 274, 303, 339–40, 344, 358
Crowfoot, Dorothy see Hodgkin, Dorothy (née Crowfoot)
Curie, Marie 101
cytidine 256–57
cytosine
Kossel’s isolation of 72
pairing with guanine 248, 324, 338, 339, 340–41
presence in animal and yeast cells 73, 74
pyrimidine base 75
structure 76, 76
see also bases
D-ribose 86, 112, 112, 181–82
Dale, Sir Henry 221
Darwin, Charles 46, 50, 52, 60
Davy, Humphrey 120–21
Unravelling the Double Helix Page 52