Biology work
Romanova Anastasia
Francis Creek
James Watson
"Discovery of the secondary structure of DNA"
The beginning of this story can be taken as a joke. "And we just discovered the secret of life!" - said one of the two men who entered the Cambridge Eagle pub exactly 57 years ago - on February 28, 1953. And these people working in a nearby laboratory were not exaggerating at all. One of them was named Francis Creek, and the other was James Watson.
Biography:
Francis Creek
During the war years, Crick was engaged in the creation of mines in the research laboratory of the British Navy. For two years after the end of the war, he continued to work in this ministry and it was then that he read Erwin Schrödinger's famous book What is Life? Physical aspects of a living cell ”, published in 1944. In the book, Schrödinger asks the question: "How can spatio-temporal events occurring in a living organism be explained from the standpoint of physics and chemistry?"
The ideas presented in the book influenced Crick so much that, intending to study particle physics, he switched to biology. With the support of Will Crick, he received a Fellowship from the Medical Research Council and in 1947 began working at the Strangway Laboratory in Cambridge. Here he studied biology, organic chemistry, and X-ray diffraction techniques used to determine the spatial structure of molecules.
James Deway Watson
In Chicago, he received his primary and secondary education. It soon became apparent that James was an unusually gifted child, and he was invited to the radio to participate in the Kids Quiz program. After only two years in high school, Watson received a scholarship in 1943 to study at an experimental four-year college at the University of Chicago, where he showed an interest in the study of ornithology. After becoming a Bachelor of Science from the University of Chicago in 1947, he continued his education at Indiana University Bloomington.
By this time, Watson had become interested in genetics and began training in Indiana under the guidance of Herman J. Möller, a specialist in this field, and Salvador Luria, a bacteriologist. Watson wrote a dissertation on the effect of X-rays on the multiplication of bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) and received his Ph.D. in 1950. A grant from the National Research Society allowed him to continue research on bacteriophages at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. There he conducted a study of the biochemical properties of bacteriophage DNA. However, as he later recalled, experiments with the phage began to weigh on him, he wanted to know more about the true structure of DNA molecules, about which geneticists talked so enthusiastically.
In October 1951 year, the scientist went to the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University to study the spatial structure of proteins together with Kendrew. There he met Francis Crick, (a physicist with an interest in biology), who was writing his doctoral dissertation at the time.
Subsequently, they established close creative contacts. “It was intellectual love at first sight,” says one historian of science. Despite their common interests, outlook on life and style of thinking, Watson and Crick criticized each other mercilessly, albeit politely. Their roles in this intellectual duo were different. “Francis was the brain and I was the feeling,” says Watson
Beginning in 1952, based on early research by Chargaff, Wilkins, and Franklin, Crick and Watson decided to try to determine the chemical structure of DNA.
By the fifties, it was known that DNA is a large molecule composed of nucleotides linked together in a line. Scientists also knew that it is DNA that is responsible for storing and inheriting genetic information. The spatial structure of this molecule and the mechanisms by which DNA is inherited from cell to cell and from organism to organism remained unknown.
V 1948 Linus Pauling discovered the spatial structure of other macromolecules - proteins. Pauling, bedridden by jade, spent several hours folding paper, which he used to model the configuration of a protein molecule, and created a model of a structure called an "alpha helix".
After this discovery, the spiral DNA hypothesis was popular in their laboratory, Watson said. Watson and Crick collaborated with leading experts in X-ray structural analysis, and Crick was able to almost accurately detect the signs of a spiral in the images obtained in this way.
Pauling also believed that DNA is a spiral, moreover, consisting of three strands. However, he could not explain either the nature of such a structure, or the mechanisms of DNA self-doubling for transmission to daughter cells.
The discovery of the double-stranded structure came after Maurice Wilkins secretly showed Watson and Crick an X-ray of a DNA molecule taken by his collaborator Rosalind Franklin. In this picture, they clearly recognized the signs of a spiral and went to the laboratory to check everything on the 3D model.
In the laboratory, it turned out that the workshop did not supply the metal plates necessary for the stereo model, and Watson cut out four types of nucleotide layouts from cardboard - guanine (G), cytosine (C), thymine (T) and adenine (A) - and began to lay them out on the table ... And then he discovered that adenine combines with thymine, and guanine - with cytosine according to the "key-lock" principle. This is how the two strands of the DNA helix are connected to each other, that is, opposite the thymine from one strand there will always be adenine from the other, and nothing else.
Over the next eight months, Watson and Crick summarized their findings with those already available, making a report on the structure of DNA in February. 1953 of the year.
A month later, they created a 3D model of a DNA molecule made from balls, pieces of cardboard and wire.
According to the Crick-Watson model, DNA is a double helix composed of two deoxyribose phosphate chains linked by base pairs in a manner similar to the rungs of a ladder. Through hydrogen bonds, adenine combines with thymine, and guanine with cytosine.
Can be swapped:
a) the participants of this pair;
b) any pair to another pair, and this will not lead to a violation of the structure, although it will decisively affect its biological activity.
The structure of DNA, proposed by Watson and Crick, perfectly satisfied the main criterion, the fulfillment of which was necessary for a molecule that claims to be a repository of hereditary information. “The backbone of our model is highly ordered, and the sequence of base pairs is the only property that can ensure the transfer of genetic information,” they wrote.
"Our structure," wrote Watson and Crick, "thus consists of two chains, each of which is complementary to the other."
Watson wrote about the discovery to his boss Delbrück, who wrote to Niels Bohr: “Amazing things happen in biology. I think Jim Watson made a discovery comparable to what Rutherford made in 1911. " It is worth recalling that in 1911 Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus.
This arrangement made it possible to explain the mechanisms of DNA copying: two strands of the helix diverge, and to each of them an exact copy of its former "partner" along the spiral is completed from nucleotides. By the same principle as the positive is printed from the negative in the photograph.
Although Rosalind Franklin did not support the hypothesis of the spiral structure of DNA, it was her images that played a decisive role in the discovery of Watson and Crick.
Later, the model of the structure of DNA proposed by Watson and Crick was proved. And in 1962 their work was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for discoveries in the field of the molecular structure of nucleic acids and for determining their role in the transmission of information in living matter." Rosalind Franklin, who had died by that time (from cancer in 1958), was not among the laureates, since the prize is not awarded posthumously.
He from the Karolinska Institute said at the award ceremony: "The discovery of the spatial molecular structure of DNA is extremely important, as it outlines opportunities for understanding in the smallest detail the general and individual characteristics of all living things." Engström noted that "deciphering the double helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid with a specific pairing of nitrogenous bases opens up fantastic possibilities for unraveling the details of control and transmission of genetic information."
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James Dewey Watson - American molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist; best known for his participation in the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
After successfully graduating from the University of Chicago and Indiana University, Watson spent some time doing research in chemistry with biochemist Herman Kalckar in Copenhagen. He later moved to Cavendish's laboratory at the University of Cambridge, where he first met his future colleague and comrade Francis Crick.
Watson and Crick came up with the idea of a DNA double helix in mid-March 1953, studying experimental data collected by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. The discovery was announced by Sir Lawrence Bragg, director of the Cavendish laboratory; this happened at a Belgian scientific conference on April 8, 1953. However, the press did not actually notice an important statement. On April 25, 1953, an article about the discovery was published in the scientific journal "Nature". Other biologists and a number of Nobel laureates quickly appreciated the monumental nature of the discovery; some even called it the greatest scientific discovery of the 20th century.
In 1962, Watson, Crick and Wilkins received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery. The fourth participant in the project, Rosalind Franklin, died in 1958 and, as a result, could no longer apply for the award. Watson also received a monument at the American Museum of Natural History in New York for his discovery; since such monuments are erected only in honor of American scientists, Crick and Wilkins were left without monuments.
Watson is considered to this day one of the greatest scientists in history; however, as a person, many openly disliked him. James Watson several times became a defendant in rather high-profile scandals; one of them was directly related to his work - the fact is that during the work on the DNA model, Watson and Crick used the data obtained by Rosalind Franklin without her permission. With Franklin's partner, Wilkins, the scientists worked quite actively; Rosalind herself, quite possibly, until the end of her life, and may not have learned how important her experiments played in understanding the structure of DNA.
From 1956 to 1976, Watson worked at the Harvard Department of Biology; during this period he was mainly interested in molecular biology.
In 1968, Watson was appointed director of the Cold Spring Harbor laboratory in Long Island, New York (Long Island, New York); Thanks to his efforts, the level of the quality of research work in the laboratory has considerably risen, and the funding has improved markedly. Watson himself during this period was primarily engaged in cancer research; along the way, he made the laboratory under his control one of the best centers of molecular biology in the world.
In 1994, Watson became president of the research center, in 2004 - rector; in 2007, he left his post after rather unpopular statements about the existence of a connection between the level of intelligence and origin.
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“Give me a dozen healthy children, physically well-developed, and I guarantee that if I receive the external conditions I have defined for their upbringing, then, choosing at random any of them, I will make any specialist out of him at my discretion: a doctor, a lawyer, an artist, a successful shopkeeper and even a beggar and a thief, regardless of his talents, his inclinations, desires, abilities, vocation, nationality "
John B. Watson (1930)
John B. Watson grew up in South Carolina; at the age of 16, he entered the University of Ferman and graduated with a master's degree. Then he began studying psychology at the University of Chicago. In 1903, Watson received his doctorate in psychology.
Career
In 1908, Watson began teaching psychology at Johns Hopkins University, and in 1913 at Columbia University, he gave an original lecture entitled "Psychology from a Behaviorist Perspective," in which he outlined a behavioral approach to the study of psychology. According to John Watson, psychology should be the science of observable behavior. " Psychology, as behaviorists see it, is an objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical purpose is to predict and control behavior. Neither introspection is characteristic for her, nor the scientific value of the data obtained in this way does not depend on the readiness with which they are interpreted from the point of view of awareness.“- he explained (1913).
Psychological experiment "Little Albert"
In his most famous and controversial experiment, known today as the Little Albert experiment, John Watson, along with an assistant named Rosalie Rayner, made a young child fearful of a white rat. They achieved this by repeatedly displaying white rats with loud, frightening noises. They were also able to demonstrate that this fear could spread to other white and furry objects.
From the point of view of ethics, the experiment is often criticized today: firstly, the child was never able to overcome this fear, and secondly, it turned out that Watson knowingly distorted the experimental data.
Retirement and the last years of life
Watson worked at Johns Hopkins University until 1920. He had an affair with Rayner, which caused him to divorce his first wife and was forced to retire. Watson and Rayner married and remained together until her death in 1935. After leaving his academic position, Watson began working for an advertising agency, where he worked until his retirement in 1945. In the last years of his life, John Watson's already poor relationship with children deteriorated. He spent his final years in estrangement, living on a farm in Connecticut. Shortly before his death, John Watson burned many of his unpublished personal documents and letters.
Contribution to the development of psychology
Watson laid the foundations for what soon became the dominant trend in psychology. Of course, after 1950, behaviorism began to lose its influence, but many of the concepts and principles are still widely used today. Conditioning and behavior modification are still used in therapy to help patients change problem-causing behaviors and develop new skills.
James Dewey Watson is an American biochemist. Born April 6, 1928 in Chicago (Illinois). He was the only child of businessman James D. Watson and Jean (Mitchell) Watson. In his hometown, the boy received his primary and secondary education. It soon became apparent that James was an unusually gifted child, and he was invited to the radio to participate in the Kids Quiz program. After only two years in high school, Watson received a scholarship in 1943 to study at an experimental four-year college at the University of Chicago, where he showed an interest in the study of ornithology. After graduating from the university in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science degree, he then continued his education at Indiana University Bloomington.
Born in Chicago, Illinois. At the age of 15, he entered the University of Chicago, graduating four years later. In 1950 they received their doctorate from Indiana State University for the study of viruses. By this time, Watson had become interested in genetics and began training in Indiana under the guidance of a specialist in this field, G.D. Möller and bacteriologist S. Luria. In 1950, the young scientist received his Ph.D. for his dissertation on the effect of X-rays on the reproduction of bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria). A grant from the National Research Society allowed him to continue research on bacteriophages at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. There he conducted a study of the biochemical properties of bacteriophage DNA. However, as he later recalled, experiments with a bacteriophage began to weigh on him, he wanted to know more about the true structure of DNA molecules, about which geneticists talked so enthusiastically. His visit to the Cavendish Laboratory in 1951 led to a collaboration with Francis Crick, which culminated in the discovery of the structure of DNA.
In October 1951, the scientist went to the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge to study the spatial structure of proteins together with D.K. Kendrew. There he met Crick, a physicist who was interested in biology and was writing his doctoral dissertation at the time.
“It was intellectual love at first sight,” says one historian of science. "Their scientific views and interests are the most important problem that needs to be addressed if you are a biologist." Despite their common interests, outlook on life and style of thinking, Watson and Crick criticized each other mercilessly, albeit politely. Their roles in this intellectual duo were different. “Francis was the brain and I was the feeling,” says Watson.
Beginning in 1952, based on early research by Chargaff, Wilkins, and Franklin, Crick and Watson decided to try to determine the chemical structure of DNA.
Recalling the attitude to DNA of the overwhelming majority of biologists of those days, Watson wrote: “After Avery's experiments, it seemed that DNA was the main genetic material. Thus, figuring out the chemical structure of DNA could be an important step towards understanding how genes are reproduced. But unlike proteins, there was very little precise chemical information about DNA. Only a few chemists were involved in it, and except for the fact that nucleic acids are very large molecules built from smaller building blocks - nucleotides, nothing was known about their chemistry that a geneticist could grasp. Moreover, organic chemists who worked with DNA were almost never interested in genetics. "
American scientists have tried to bring together all the information available so far about DNA, both physicochemical and biological. According to V.N. Soifer: “Watson and Crick analyzed the data of X-ray structural analysis of DNA, compared them with the results of chemical studies of the ratio of nucleotides in DNA (Chargaff's rules) and applied to DNA Pauling's idea of the possibility of the existence of helical polymers, which he expressed in relation to proteins. As a result, they were able to propose a hypothesis about the structure of DNA, according to which DNA was represented by two polynucleotide strands connected by hydrogen bonds and mutually twisted relative to each other. The hypothesis of Watson and Crick so simply explained most of the mysteries about the functioning of DNA as a genetic matrix that it was literally immediately accepted by geneticists and experimentally proved in a short time. "
Based on this, Watson and Crick proposed the following DNA model:
1. Two chains in the DNA structure are twisted around one another and form a right-handed spiral.
2. Each chain is composed of regularly repeating phosphoric acid and deoxyribose sugar residues. Nitrogen bases are attached to the sugar residues (one for each sugar residue).
3. The chains are fixed relative to each other by hydrogen bonds connecting pairwise nitrogenous bases. As a result, it turns out that phosphorus and carbohydrate residues are located on the outer side of the spiral, and the bases are enclosed inside it. The bases are perpendicular to the axis of the chains.
4. There is a selection rule for pairing bases. A purine base can combine with a pyrimidine base, and, moreover, thymine can only combine with adenine, and guanine with cytosine ...
5. It is possible to swap: a) the participants of the given pair; b) any pair to another pair, and this will not lead to a violation of the structure, although it will decisively affect its biological activity.
"Our structure," wrote Watson and Crick, "thus consists of two chains, each of which is complementary to the other."
In February 1953, Crick and Watson made a report on the structure of DNA. A month later, they created a 3D model of a DNA molecule made from balls, pieces of cardboard and wire.
Watson wrote about the discovery to his boss Delbrück, and he wrote to Niels Bohr: “Amazing things happen in biology. I think Jim Watson made a discovery comparable to what Rutherford made in 1911. " It is worth recalling that in 1911 Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus.
The model allowed other researchers to clearly visualize DNA replication. The two chains of the molecule are separated at the places of hydrogen bonds, like opening a zipper, after which a new one is synthesized on each half of the old DNA molecule. The base sequence acts as a template, or pattern, for a new molecule.
The structure of DNA, proposed by Watson and Crick, perfectly satisfied the main criterion, the fulfillment of which was necessary for a molecule that claims to be a repository of hereditary information. “The backbone of our model is highly ordered, and the sequence of base pairs is the only property that can ensure the transfer of genetic information,” they wrote.
Crick and Watson completed the creation of the DNA model in 1953, and nine years later, together with Wilkins, they received the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and their importance for the transmission of information in living systems." Wilkins (Maurice Wilkins), - his experiments with X-ray diffraction helped to establish the double-stranded structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin (1920–58), whose contribution to the discovery of the structure of DNA, according to many, was very significant, was not awarded the Nobel Prize, since she did not live up to that time.
Summarizing the data on the physical and chemical properties of DNA and analyzing the results of M. Wilkins and R. Franklin on X-ray scattering on DNA crystals, J. Watson and F. Crick in 1953 built a model of the three-dimensional structure of this molecule. The principle of complementarity of chains in a double-stranded molecule, proposed by them, was of paramount importance. J. Watson owns a hypothesis about the semi-conservative mechanism of DNA replication. In 1958-1959. J. Watson and A. Tissier carried out studies of bacterial ribosomes, which have become classical. Also known are the work of the scientist on the study of the structure of viruses. In 1989-1992. J. Watson headed the international scientific program "Human Genome".
Watson and Crick discovered the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a substance that contains all hereditary information.
By the fifties, it was known that DNA is a large molecule that consists of thousands of small molecules of four different types - nucleotides - linked together in a line. Scientists also knew that it is DNA that is responsible for storing and inheriting genetic information, similar to a text written in an alphabet of four letters. The spatial structure of this molecule and the mechanisms by which DNA is inherited from cell to cell and from organism to organism remained unknown.
In 1948, Linus Pauling discovered the spatial structure of other macromolecules - proteins and created a model of the structure called the "alpha helix".
Pauling also believed that DNA is a spiral, moreover, consisting of three strands. However, he could not explain either the nature of such a structure, or the mechanisms of DNA self-doubling for transmission to daughter cells.
The discovery of the double-stranded structure came after Maurice Wilkins secretly showed Watson and Crick an X-ray of a DNA molecule taken by his collaborator Rosalind Franklin. In this picture, they clearly recognized the signs of a spiral and went to the laboratory to check everything on the 3D model.
In the laboratory, it turned out that the workshop did not supply the metal plates necessary for the stereo model, and Watson cut out four types of nucleotide layouts from cardboard - guanine (G), cytosine (C), thymine (T) and adenine (A) - and began to lay them out on the table ... And then he discovered that adenine combines with thymine, and guanine - with cytosine according to the "key-lock" principle. This is how the two strands of the DNA helix are connected to each other, that is, opposite the thymine from one strand there will always be adenine from the other, and nothing else.
This arrangement made it possible to explain the mechanisms of DNA copying: two strands of the helix diverge, and to each of them an exact copy of its former "partner" along the spiral is completed from nucleotides. By the same principle as the positive is printed from the negative in the photograph.
Although Franklin did not support the hypothesis about the spiral structure of DNA, it was her images that played a decisive role in the discovery of Watson and Crick. Rosalind did not live to see the award given to Wilkins, Watson and Creek.
It is obvious that the discovery of the spatial structure of DNA made a revolution in the world of science and entailed a number of new discoveries, without which it is impossible to imagine not only modern science, but also modern life in general.
In the sixties of the last century, the assumption of Watson and Crick about the mechanism of DNA replication (doubling) was fully confirmed. In addition, it was shown that a special protein, DNA polymerase, is involved in this process.
Around the same time, another important discovery was made - the genetic code. As mentioned above, DNA contains information about everything that is inherited, including the linear structure of each protein in the body. Proteins, like DNA, are long molecular chains of amino acids. There are 20 of these amino acids. Accordingly, it was not clear how the DNA "language", consisting of a four-letter alphabet, is translated into a protein "language", which uses 20 "letters".
It turned out that the combination of three DNA nucleotides clearly corresponds to one of the 20 amino acids. And thus, "written" on DNA is unambiguously translated into protein.
In the seventies, two more important methods appeared, based on the discovery of Watson and Crick. This is the sequencing and production of recombinant DNA. Sequencing allows you to "read" the sequence of nucleotides in DNA. It is on this method that the entire Human Genome program is based.
The production of recombinant DNA is also called molecular cloning. The essence of this method is that a fragment containing a certain gene is inserted into a DNA molecule. In this way, for example, bacteria are obtained that contain the human insulin gene. Insulin obtained in this way is called recombinant. All "genetically modified foods" are created by the same method.
Paradoxically, the reproductive cloning that everyone is talking about now appeared before the structure of DNA was discovered. It is clear that now scientists conducting such experiments are actively using the results of the discovery of Watson and Crick. But, initially, the method was not based on it.
The next important step in science was the development of the polymerase chain reaction in the eighties. This technology is used to quickly "multiply" the desired DNA fragment and has already found many applications in science, medicine and technology. In medicine, PCR is used to quickly and accurately diagnose viral diseases. If the mass of DNA obtained from the analysis of a patient contains genes brought in by the virus even in a minimal amount, then using PCR it is possible to achieve their "multiplication" and then be easily identified.
A.V. Engström of the Karolinska Institute said at the award ceremony: "The discovery of the spatial molecular structure ... DNA is extremely important, as it outlines the possibilities for understanding in the smallest detail the general and individual characteristics of all living things." Engstrom noted that "the deciphering of the double helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid with a specific pairing of nitrogenous bases opens up fantastic possibilities for unraveling the details of the control and transmission of genetic information."
There are not so few Nobel laureates in the world, but only a few of them are widely known. The legendary James Dewey Watson is one of them. Every student knows about the spatial structure of the DNA molecule that he discovered. However, Watson became famous not only for his scientific achievements - among scientists, he deservedly bears the title of brawler number one.
Unpleasant person
From the very beginning, James Watson followed his own path in science. Perhaps the reason for this is his quarrelsome, absurd, and, according to some, simply disgusting character. Watson's Harvard colleague, the famous zoologist Edward Wilson, once admitted: "Watson is the most unpleasant person I know." But Watson has long been accustomed to taking a punch - after all, he is from Chicago. It was in the capital of American crime, during the Great Depression, in 1928, that the future genius of James Dewey Watson was born. True, young James never got involved with bad companies. He was not up to it. His father, a middle-class businessman, doted on his only son and did everything to give his son an excellent education. The parent's persistent efforts were crowned with success. An elementary school graduate was invited to participate in the radio program "Quiz for Children", where only gifted children performed. But unlike the rest of the young talents, Watson was the only one who achieved world recognition ...
Sharp turns
After completing two years of high school, James is sent to college at the University of Chicago. Most of all, Watson is attracted by biology, and he dreams of becoming an ornithologist - a specialist who studies birds. In 1947, at the age of only 19, Watson received his bachelor's degree. University luminaries predicted a brilliant future for him, but the young man suddenly showed his obstinate disposition and decided to retrain as a geneticist. In this field, Watson also achieved recognition: already in 1950 he received his doctorate for his study of the effect of X-rays on the reproduction of viruses living in bacteria. The National Research Society allocated a considerable subsidy to the young specialist, but he again played all-in - he left America and rushed to Europe.
Way to Olympus
In the Old World, Watson plunges headlong into the study of the biochemical properties of deoxyribonucleic acid - DNA. The scientist longs to know how it works, but he has serious competition - Linus Pauling himself, winner of two Nobel Prizes, has long been dealing with this problem. Watson changes universities like gloves and meets with misunderstanding and opposition everywhere. However, James - a guy of an awkward ten - was not used to retreating. In the fall of 1951, he first crosses the threshold of Cambridge and there he finds a like-minded person - Francis Crick. The scream was a match for Watson - he was known as an eccentric. He spoke too quickly and too much, but he could not boast of great achievements in science. Despite the difference in age (James - 23, Francis - 35), they quickly find a common language and get to work with inspiration.
Model constructors
By the early 1950s, it was clear that the components of DNA make up some kind of unified structure. But which one? Nobody knew this yet. True, the same Linus Pauling managed to assume that DNA looks like a spiral. He was the first to throw up the idea of a "child's constructor" - a spatial model of a molecule. But so far no one, including Pauling himself, has been able to correctly assemble this "constructor".
Watson and Crick did nothing day after day to add balls and wires. Watching them juggle, colleagues jokingly called them scientific clowns. The inspiration came, as always, unexpectedly. One cold January night in 1953, while insomnia, Watson was reading a newspaper. But there were only three letters in his head - DNA. And suddenly a scheme appeared before his eyes, over which they had been fighting for so long! James grabbed a pen and quickly sketched a drawing right in the margin of the newspaper. The DNA molecule finally took on the appearance of a twisted rope ladder.
In 1962, James Watson, along with Crick and Maurice Wilkins (the latter confirmed the structure of DNA using X-ray crystallography), was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. So the era of molecular biology began in science, and Watson became its symbol.
Against the stream
Meanwhile, the "symbol" behaved in an inappropriate manner. He was not distinguished by political correctness before, but now he seems to have lost his mind. Once he said that it would be nice, using his discovery, to make all the girls beautiful. A scandal arose. Another in his place would have drawn conclusions, but not such was attacked! Watson seemed to be testing public patience. Then he publicly declared that it would be good to find a gene responsible for sexuality. Then each woman could decide for herself whether to leave her a homosexual child or get rid of him while still in the womb. What started here! “Every woman wants grandchildren,” the scientist explained later. - I only gave arguments in favor of her right to make a choice. I didn't discuss whether this is good or bad. " No one was satisfied with the explanations.
On another occasion, Watson admitted that stupidity is a disease that should be treated, at least by means of genetic engineering. Well, the biologist never showed condescension to human shortcomings, but this time, it seems, did not spare even himself, because his son suffered from schizophrenia. But the public did not accept this statement either. However, these were still flowers. In 2007, a real storm broke out. The Times newspaper published an interview with Watson, in which he said without a moment's hesitation: “The prospects for Africa are, in my opinion, the darkest ... Our entire social policy is based on the fact that they are as smart as we are, while tests show that this is not the case. " The biologist was not forgiven for this phrase, and at the age of 79 he was forced to resign from the scientific laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor. It was a blow in the stomach. The scientist himself created this laboratory, recruited employees there, led it for many years, thanks to him, it turned into one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. How much Watson made excuses! Say, he meant that people in different regions have different innate intellectual abilities, which is due to different living conditions. Watson was not even listened to.
Genes and prices
So, the hero was overthrown from the pedestal. But he didn't break. Despite his advanced age, Watson today travels the world with lectures. In August last year, for example, I visited Moscow. Gave a dozen interviews, received an honorary doctorate from Moscow State University, gave two lectures. The halls where he performed were taken by storm. Watson eagerly talked about studies of the human genome, which will allow us to understand the root cause of many serious diseases. Now such a study costs a tidy sum, but in the future, according to the scientist, the cost of a complete reading of one human genome will approach the cost of a car. "And you will do it for your son or daughter, because knowing your DNA sequence is just as important as having a car!" - the biologist is sure. By the way, the genome of Watson himself was recently deciphered by two well-known American companies. It took two months of hard work and almost a million dollars to make such a gift to the Nobel laureate!
Lyubov DYAKOVA
By the way:
1. For the majority, Watson is primarily the creator of the spatial model of the DNA molecule. But the scientist has another talent. His book "The Double Helix", which describes the history of the discovery, is rightfully considered the best that has been written about science.
2. The decoding of the first human genome, undertaken in 1988 (including with the participation of Watson), cost three billion dollars and lasted more than thirteen years.
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