Scientists describe 'secret of life' in 1953

Two Cambridge University scientists have published their answer to one of the most fundamental questions of biology - how do living things reproduce themselves?

X-ray diffraction photos of DNA helped to solve the puzzle of reproduction
Courtesy: King's College London

In an article published today in Nature magazine, James D Watson and Francis Crick describe the structure of a chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.

DNA is the material that makes up genes which pass hereditary characteristics from one parent to another.

In short, it consists of a double helix of two strands coiled around each other. The strands are made up of complementary elements that fit together and when uncoiled can produce two copies of the original.

Momentous discovery

This special property for accurate self-replication allows DNA to duplicate the genes of an organism during the nuclear divisions for growth and the production of germ cells for the next generation.

They began their article with the modest statement: "We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest."

On 28 February, Mr Crick walked into a Cambridge pub with Mr Watson to celebrate the fact that they had unravelled the structure of DNA, saying: "We have discovered the secret of life!"

The momentous discovery was the culmination of research by Medical Research Council scientists Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin in London, who produced X-ray diffraction photographs and other evidence.