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Double Helix Essay, Research Paper

Double HelixA review of Watson, James D. The Double Helix. New York: Atheneum, 1968. James Watson’s account of the events that led to the discovery of the structure of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) is a very witty narrative, and shines light on the nature of scientists. Watson describes the many key events that led to the eventual discovery of the structure of DNA in a scientific manner, while including many experiences in his life that happened at the same time which really have no great significant impact on the discovery of the DNA structure. The Double Helix begins with a brief description of some of the individuals that played a significant role in the discovery of DNA structure. Francis Crick is the one individual that may have influenced Watson the most in the discovery. Crick seemed to be a loud and out spoken man. He never was afraid to express his opinion or suggestions to others. Watson appreciated Crick for this outspoken nature, while others could not bear Crick because of this nature. Maurice Wilkins was a much calmer and quieter man that worked in London at King’s College. Wilkins was the initial person that excited Watson on DNA research. Wilkins had an assistant, Rosalind Franklin (also known as Rosy). Initially, Wilkins thought that Rosy was supposed to be his assistant in researching the structure of DNA because of her expertise in crystallography; however, Rosy did not want to be thought of as anybody’s assistant and let her feelings be known to others. Throughout the book there is a drama between Wilkins and Rosy, a drama for the struggle of power between the two. Watson’s “adventure” begins when he receives a grant to leave the United States and go to Copenhagen to do his postdoctoral work with a biochemist named Herman Kalckar. Watson found that studying biochemistry was not as exciting as he hoped it would be; fortunately, he met up with Ole Maaloe, another scientist doing research on phages (Watson studied phages intensively while in graduate school). He found himself helping Ole with many of his experiments and soon he was helping Ole with his experiments more than he was helping Herman with his experiments. At first, Watson felt like he was deceiving the board of trustees by not studying the material that the board sent him to study. However, Watson felt justified because Herman was becoming less and less interested in teaching Watson because of Herman’s current personal affairs (Herman and his wife decided to get a divorce). With Herman’s lack of interest in teaching biochemistry, Watson found himself spending the majority of the day working with Ole on his experiments. While in Copenhagen, Herman suggested that Watson go on a spring trip to the Zoological station at Naples. It was in Naples that Watson first met Wilkins. It was also in Naples that Watson first became excited about X-ray work on DNA. The spark that ignited Wilkins’ fire was a small scientific meeting on the structures of the large molecules found in living cells. Watson had always been interested in DNA ever since he was a senior in college. Now that he learned of some new research on how to study DNA, he had the craving to discover the structure of the mysterious molecule that he believed to be the “stuff of life”. Watson never had the chance to discuss DNA with Wilkins that spring; however, that did not kill Watson’s desire to learn about its structure. Watson’s fire was further kindled by Linus Pauling, an incredibly intelligent scientist out of Cal Tech. Pauling had partly solved the structure of proteins. He discovered that proteins have an alpha-helical shape. Watson thought this was an incredible discovery! He was excited to research and learn about the DNA structure. Watson was worried about where he could learn more about DNA and how to solve X- ray diffraction pictures so the structure of DNA could be understood. He knew he could not do this at Cal Tech with Pauling because Pauling was too great a man to waste time with Watson and Wilkins continually put Watson off. Soon Watson became aware that Cambridge was the place he could get experience to solve the DNA problem. It was about this time that Watson’s grant was about to expire. He decided to write Washington and request that his grant be renewed, continuing his studies in Cambridge rather than Copenhagen. Thinking that Washington would not deny his request, Watson packed up and went to Cambridge. He worked several months in Cambridge when finally he received a return letter from Washington. The letter stated that his grant would not be continued. Nevertheless, Watson decided to remain in Cambridge and continue his stimulating intellectual experience. It was in Cambridge that Watson first met Francis Crick. Here, Watson discovered the fun of talking to Crick. In addition, Watson was elated that he found someone in the lab that thought DNA was more important than proteins. Soon Watson and Crick found themselves having a daily lunch break together discussing many scientific topics, in particular, the unique aspects of DNA. As reports came to Watson and Crick about Paulings efforts to discover the structure of DNA, they began to feel pressure to discover the structure before Pauling did. However, Watson and Crick were at a disadvantage because they did not have access to some valuable research done by Wilkins and Rosy. This did not discourage Watson and Crick. With the limited information they had, they began to riddle over the possible structures of DNA. So far all the evidence they had (and also their intuition) indicated that DNA was a helical structure like proteins with either one, two, or three strands. Pauling was able to discover the alpha-helix by fiddling with models; by trial and error he came up with the correct structure. Watson and Crick decided to try model building as a method of solving the structure of DNA.

Over a period of weeks to

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