April 25, 1953Science & TechnologyEurope

DNA Structure Discovered

James Watson and Francis Crick described the double helix structure of DNA, unlocking the secret of genetic information.

On April 25, 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published their groundbreaking paper in Nature describing the double helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Building on X-ray crystallography work by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins, their model explained how genetic information is stored and replicated. This discovery revolutionized biology and medicine, laying the foundation for molecular biology, genetic engineering, and the Human Genome Project.

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