Tuesday, February 26, 2013

A Letter from Francis Crick

A DNA Lesson, From the Expert's Pen
I found this article this morning in the NYTimes Science Section and thought I would share it.  It's not exactly relevant to what we're learning, but relevant to genetics very broadly and just really cool!  There is a letter from March 19th 1953, 2 weeks after Crick & Watson discovered/realized how the bases of DNA pair up in the double-helix structure, on auction (estimated $1-$2million).  In it, Francis Crick explains DNA's structure and function, with special attention to replication, to his 12 year old son and sketches out a picture of the double-helix.  He begins the letter "Dear Michael, Jim Watson and I have probably made a most important discovery" and signs it "Lots of love, Daddy".  Here is a transcript to the full letter

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