Double Helix
Transcript: Winning Formula Molecule of Life Photograph 51 Piecing the Puzzle Together http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/dna_double_helix/readmore.html http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/DNA/DNA.htm http://ensemblestudiotheatre.org/about/past-productions/2010-2011/photograph-51/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2011/11/22/whats-your-dna-worth/ "The instant I saw the picture, my mouth fell open and my pulse began to race." The first important piece of information came in 1952, when Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins used x-ray diffraction to understand the physical structure of the DNA molecule. The did this by shining x-rays on a sample of DNA. This enabled them to create a photographic film, called photograph 51, which showed an x in the centre of the molecule, indicating it was a helical structure. In 1953, James Watson determined the last needed piece of information; that the adenine-thymine bond was exactly as long as the cytosine-guanine bond. This allows each rung of the twisted ladder in the helix to be of equal length, and consequently, the sugar-phosphate backbone to be smooth. Using this information he compounded, in the journal Nature, our modern understanding of the DNA double helix. DNA is a winning formula for packaging genetic material. Therefore almost all organisms carry genetic information encapsulated as DNA. The first known isolation of DNA was by the Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher who, in 1869, discovered a microscopic substance in the pus of discarded surgical bandages. However Fredrich and many others brushed pass DNA as the holder of genetic material, regarding proteins as more important molecules. DNA Double Helix By Daniel Murray Shortly, after much investigation a molecule made from a sugar-phosphate backbone, with equal amounts of adenine and thymine and similarly equal amounts of guanine and cytosine, called DNA, was thought to be the molecule of life. However important information was still needed to establish a full picture. And They All Lived Happily Ever After The End