Watson and Crick publish DNA structure
April 25, 1953
In a one-page Nature paper, two Cambridge researchers proposed that DNA was a double helix of paired bases, and noted, with almost criminal understatement, that this suggested a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material. Rosalind Franklin's X-ray photographs had been crucial, though she received no credit at the time. Biology had found the shape of heredity. The molecule of life had been drawn.
In context
Also in 1953 (7 other events on record)
- Hillary and Tenzing Summit Everest · South Asia · Exploration
- Stalin dies at Kuntsevo · Europe · Politics
- Korean War armistice signed · East Asia · War
- CIA coup topples Mossadegh in Iran · Middle East · Politics
- Elizabeth II crowned in Westminster · Europe · Culture
- Rosenbergs executed · North America · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Science
Era
Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.