The Discuvery of the StrucLure of
Deox;'Tibonucleic Acid:
The Contributors
to the Wa LSOfl and Cr i ck t-lode 1 (Inc luding
an Interview with Maurice Wilkins)
An Honors Thesis
(10 499)
by
Stephanie L. Johnson
Thesis Director
Dr. Thomas R. Merte'its
Ball State University
Muncie,
Indiana
April,
Graduation:
-
1989
December, 1989
t~Con
. , 'r;O..-st:.
.1, -;:0 (f,.
'-'
Table of ContenLs
Introduclioll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Contr i butors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
LirlUS l?aul ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , .. 2
S veIl f.' \1 r"1) e r- g. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Erv.rin Chargaff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G
(le r'ar-d Wya t t_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Wi] liaIo AstbuI·y . . . . . . , ... " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,7
Ma uri c
p
Wilk ins . • . . . . . • . . . • . • . • . . • . . . . . . . • • . . . . . . . . . . 7
TIle OPI)C)I-tul1i-L-y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Completf::~
Reference LisL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
AIJperldic~es
.•......... , ..............
t
••••••••••••••••••••
•
12
Original Nanuscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3
Article ReprinL . . . . . . . . • • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . aff ixed
-
In Lhe
1953 lssue of Nature,
April 25,
James D. Watson and
Francis H. C. Crich made an announcement wedeh
beginning
of
a
revoluLion
lheir
they published
model
material, deoxyribonucleic
advanceIllent,
before the
case,
there
and
experiments Lhey
"'hich
Crich
1986,
Whu,
then,
lhe
sLruclure
were
As
deal
not
of
of
with any scienLific
experilllenLaLLoll done
model.
In this par'liculae
directly
involved
was
A Structure for
ln
the
mentioned
above.
Deoxyribose Nucleic
They were,
ingenious insight
instead.
puz~le
into the
"model
of life
48).
were the experimenters who praY ided the \laluable
contributions necessary to help mahe the parLs of
fit together?
lhe genelic
cited as references in their article "Molecular
builders," providing
(Watson,
of
of this
Structure of Nucleic Acids:
Acid, "
molecular biology and genetics:
gr'eat
actual proposal
Watson
in
acid (DNA).
a
",as
be Lhe
proved to
Further' ,
the DNA puzzle
wha L information did they pro v ide
helped Watson and erich solve the puzzle?
Tbe anShers
~"hich
Lo these
questions can
easily be found in the Nature article cited above,
since
and
Watson
con tr i butOl'S
contributions.
articles
and
Crick
briefly
mentioned
discussed
Furthermo r'e,
more significant
obtaining copies
these contributions.
ma.1Il
individuaJ
of the origjnal
facilitated an
And finally,
step, an interview witb a cunLribulol'
and Nobel pri:z.e co-winner, personalized the
a very
Lheir
their
cited as references by Watson and Crick
even fuller' understanding of
one even
specifically
meaningful understanding
the model of the structure of DNA.
subject and fostered
of his specific contribution to
THE CONTRIBUTORS
list Watson and Crick seL forth
the reference
According to
in their original article,
the contribuLors to the development of
the i r mode 1 were Li nus Paul ing and Robe I't B. Corey, S ven Furberg,
Erwin Chargaff (S.
G.
Zamenhoff,
and
Brawerman,
E. Chargaff),
Gerard R. WyaLt, William T. AsLbury, and Naurice H.F. Will\ins and
Of
John T. Randall.
this
course,
includes
list
It is obvious that
references as they appeared in their article.
these ",ere nol the only
contributors
considering the
Crick conssrucLed,
1.0
the
model
vast base
this knowledge most surely rested.
only cited
Watson and
upon which all of
Watson
However,
and Crick
attempted in Lhis context to give credit where credit was due.
Linus Pauling
Going through in logical oeder, as Watson and Crick did,
first contributor may be
conjunction with
said to
Robert B.
have been
for
the
structure
In
Corey, Pauling published an aeticle,
Acids," ",hieh
"A Proposed Structure for the Nucleic
model
Linus Pauling.
the
uf
DNA.
suggested a
Ultimately, of course,
this
model was shown to be incorrect, but it was useful in some ways.
Linus
Pauling
polypeptjces.
This discoveey
the
alpha-helix
sLructure
the obvious
biologically
molecules (01b;;,',
in
of
made a big impact on the field of
structural crystallography because of
helices
-
discovered
ilTlport~ant
Pauling used his hnmdedge of helices
quest to discover the slructure of DNA.
to
help
him
pt'evalence or
1974,
in
2,8).
his own
3
Watson
consist~"
Crick
axis,
Corey also
the
& Corey,
1952,
chains,
basic
the phosphates near'
with
description
giant
approx i ma tely c i
86).
{'CD
"The it, llIode I
Corey:
accordingly,
The
be formulated is a helix.
with
and
(Wal!:>on & CriCK,
on the outside"
"We a!:>sume,
gave:
cyl i ndl' ica 1_,
Pauling
and
This is
737)
cite
interL~ined
three
of
the fibre
1953,
and
hlhich
Pauling and
tbat Lhe structure Lo
molecule
would
thus be
lar cross -sec lion"
(Paul i ng
They went further to say that. ..
the cylindrical molecule
i!:>
formed
of
three chains,
\.Jhich are coiled abouL one another.
The structure that
we propose is a three-chain structure, each chain being
a helix
~ith fundamental
translation equal
tu 3.4 4,
alld the thrC'e chains being related
to one another .. . by
the operatiun
of a
threeFuld axjs
(Pauling & Corey,
1952, 87). (Italic~s added).
In response
to Lhe Pauling model,
this sLr'ucLur'e l.Jas "unsatisfactory for lI."o reasuns."
stated tbat
In the first !-llaee,
reading his
salt,
they
"ere
not
saLisfied
that
X-ray pattern!:> correctly, because the;"
not the free
phospha te!c, in
acid,
was
what gave
the X-ray
Secondly,
the van
f('olll
his
contribution, Pauling
-
fell thaL the
images.
The
der Waals distances
were too small in their opinions (Watson &. CrlcK,
Watson and
Pauling was
the center' of the axis would not worK because Lhey
would repel each other.
Aside
Cr iCK f ['anK 1 y
Wa Lson and
also
provided
another
was sharing an office at
and Crick
at the
that tjme,
Linus would
(37).
obviously valuable chemical and scientific
Crick--incentive and urgency.
of Linus Pauling,
]953,
type
of
Peter Pauljng,
enthusiastic
the son
Cambridge with Watson
time they we['e worKing on their lIlodel.
write
help to
letters
to
During
his son
the
about
wor'k
mak ing in h.L s \.Jork
just
such
nucleic acids.
structure of
on the
letter
a
doing and the advances he I--'as
(Linus)
he
which
Peter received from his father that
frightened 1;jatson and Cr'iek, making them
chance to
the
::;teal the prize"
antecedent
the
to
A 1 though
published.
1986, 125).
(Watson,
article
"Linus had a
fear Lhat
Pauling
T his let Le r' I--' a s
and
wroLe and
Cure,!'
Ute s true t ure Pau 1 i ng and Curey proposed was
incorrect, Watson and Crick were moLivated La step-up the pace uf
their work
and they
became fiercely more deLermirled to discover
the true structure.
Sven Furberg
A second contributor was Sven
Like
Furberg,
Pauling and
Corey, he published a proposal for the sLructure of rlue-leic acids
before Watson and Crick did.
models,
although
he
He actually
preferred
nearer to being correct than was
first,
of Nucleic
Acta
Scandinavica
and,
his secund.
Acids," was
the Structure
Chemica
his
proposed
volume
llyO
indeed,
The
published in
6,
pages
different
it I--'as
article,
"On
1952 in the
634-640.
His
explanation of his model is as follows:
In modell, the
pyrimidine and purine r'1.ngs are
piled in a
central column directly on
top of t!ach
other,
3.4
A apart,
with
the
ribose rings and the
phosphate groups
in a
spiral
enclosing
the coJulIln
(Furberg, 1952, 638).
Loose]
-
with the
bases were
y
translated,
sugar being
this means his model
perppndicular to
1,IaS
a single hel ix,
the attached
base.
The
in the inside of the helix, and Lhe phosphates on the
This observatioll
outside.
1S
what caught Lhe interest of Watsun
and Crick.
I nth e =_ r art i c 1 e, Wa l son and C ric 1\. say l hal l h e i r
"radically
different
nucleic acid"
for
structure
(I-latson & Crick,
1953,
saIL
the
of
III 0
del i s a
deoxyribuse
They pointed
(37).
out
lfl
their article that the structure they presented had two chains in
a helix, each of which "loosely resembles Furberg's
that
the
is,
bases
are
phosphates on the outside"
words, Watson
proposed
and Crick
st~ucture
on
insi.de
the
IIlodel Nu.
1,
of the helix and lhe
(Watson & Crick,
1953,
In other
737).
here no led the similarities betweell the
of Furberg and their uwn propused structure of
DNA.
Erwin Chargaff
Anothe.c·
Chargaff
and
contributor,
his
or
team
contI' i.bulurs,
Stephan
co-authors,
they
of
publi shed
Zamenhof
lhe
and
article,
Brawerrnan.
In
Desoxypentose
Nucleic
Biochimica 8t
Biophysica Acta volume 9, pages 402-405.
1952
From
Acids
laboratory at Columbia University
working
with
bacterial
Several
in
George
"On
Micruorganisms, I'
New York
transformatiun,
was En..,rin
in
City,
an
in
In their
Lhey were
attempt
to
distinguish DNAs derived frum different species.
The mo:.;t significant contribution Chargaff made h'as the fact
that he
-
noticed that
was approximately
These al'e
I:~alled
the purine/pyrimidine
une-tu-one.
That is,
A/T
ratio in DNA always
=
1 and
G/C
=
1.
the Chargaff ratios, and they helped WaLson ami
Crick infer the structure of DNA.
I)
It has been found experimentally that the ratiu of
the amounts of adenine to
thymine,
and
the
ratio uf
guaniw~ to cytosine, are always very close to uni ty for'
deoxyribuse
nucleic
acid . . . . In uther wurds,
if an
adeniw~ forms
une member
uf a
pair, un either chain,
then on these assumptiuns,
the
other member
must be
thymine (Watson & Crick, 1953, 737).
Chargaff,
in
hi;.; experiments, di;';IJI'uved what had been knuwn
as the tetranucleuLide theory.
chemically [Hade
theory ;.;Lated
This
up of a repeat ing ;.;equence uf
~
Lhe bases, G
It was Chargaff';.;
in plants.
in animals, and G A C U
Lha t DNA \"as
\NO
C
T
Lha L
['k
finally conclusively disproved this.
Gerard Wyatt
Anothe r con t r i butor to the Wa tson and Cr ick IIIudel
Gerard Wyatt.
In
1952,
he
published
results
0
f DNA l..tas
one
uf
of hi;.;
experimentb in the Journal of General Physiology vuluIlle 36,
201.
In his
Chargaff
data came
ratios
equality of
analyzed
cuntent
DNA
wheaL
cunclusive evidence
a
purines
and
201).
new base,
to cytosine.
with
variant
This initially caused
but he
of
He al;.;o found a
an
guanine.
were valid.
This
tt
also
discovery
fit
extra
in
the
uf adenine
"5-111ethyl-
group
of atoms
in some viruses
some alarm
showed experimentally
cytosine
and viruses that
one-La-one ratios
attached at one point around the ring ...
1952,
Lhe
pyrimidines.
germ, herring sperm,
cytosine
Lha t
a correct interpretation uf the
and he found U-le
and guanine
cytosine, which is
indeed,
between
from
attacked insects,
to thymine
were,
even more
page
because it
that the
(Wyatt,
was a
ratio of Lhis
one-to-one
raLio I--:ith
finally demonstrated that the ratios
7
William Astbury
Still anoLher
conLributor to the Watson and Crich model
William T. Astl.nlrj'.
contribution
to
Watson
DNA.
He
crystallography
in
photographs of
ray
He was a physicist and scientist that helped
term "molecular
popular i ze ':.,he
wa~
Crick
and
~,as
biology"
1974, 59).
(Ollly,
was
his
His
X-ray diffraction
one of the pioneers of Lhe use of X
textile
research
biology.
and
In
succeeded in obtaining one of the first clear X-ray
addition, he
photographs of DNA.
phoLograph was
This X-raj
published in his
"X-ray Studies of Nucleic Acids," whl ch appeared in
1947 article
Symposia of the Society for Experimerltal Biology, volume 1, pages
This
66-76.
X-ray
entirely sharp.
photograph
However,
of
was
good quality, but noL
it was helpful to Watson and Crick, and
thus was cited in their arLicle (Olby,
1974, 357).
Maurice Wilkins
Finally,
the
last cited contributor to the Watson and Crick
model of DNA was a man named Maurice H.F. Wilkins.
King's College
in London in conj unct ion
Rosalind Franklin,
Will~ins
and
~,i
Working aL
th ,John T. Randall and
his colleagues
obLained clear X-
ray diffraction photographs of c['ysLalline "desoxypenLose nucleic
acid"
(Wilkins & Randall,
1953, 192).
In Lhe article Wilkins and Randall published,
in Sperm
-
Eeads:
Mol e cuI a r S t r' u c t u l' e
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta,
says,
"One
may reasonably
0
"Crystall LniLy
f Nu c leo pro Lei n i Il
volume 10,
V
i v0
,
It
pages 192-]93, Wilkins
hope to lIlahe an unambiguous structure
determination of the nucleate fibres because of their high degr'ee
8
of
crystalline
This,
indeed,
(Wilkins
perfection"
1S the advice
h1
Randall,
&
1953,
192).
hich Watson and Crick look when they
proposed their structure of DNA.
THE OPPORTUNITY
In an attempt to gain undergraduate credit 1n BioJogy 498, a
course which offers
research by
designed a
1n
credit
biologically-related independent
s tuden ts, my professor, Dr. Thomas R. Her'tens, and I
whereby I
~roject
the famous
would
Nobelists, Watson,
Crick, and
Wilkins wOI'ked, and I
;.;ould Lake :photos and write a short human
these
impo ['tan t
England,
with
Wilkins's
i~
places.
Watson
These
and
laboratories where
visit the
inLeresL article about
he['e located ill
laboratories
Crick's
being
in
Cambridge,
London.
The name of the laboratory where Watson and Cl'icli. worked
the Cavendish
was called
and
Laboratory.
the Wheats tone
College building.
The laboratory
where Wilkins worked
Phys ics Labora to ['y,
Unfortunately,
I
found
~,as
ins i de the King's
that the laboratories
were not at all similar to \Jbat they had been in Lhe 1950s during
the time
Nobelists.
jmportant
the
The laboratories
change happ2ning
completely
-
department
relocated.
discoveries
around
redone
at
and
Cambridge,
them.
h'ere vic tims
The
consumed
and
were
the
made
IIew
the
the future
or the technological
Cavendish
by
by
Laboratory was
poll l.ic-at
Cavendish
SCJence
had
been
The Wheatstone Physics Laboratory in London was OflL'e
9
a very
and had since been
high-ceilinged room,
di~ided
into Lwo
separate floors.
see aL
The eq'.lipmenL hfhich I desired La
in a
s tora;,;e area
on an
alley of f
cosmopolita'l location of the
taken
Lhis
to
place
by
of Lhe S Lrand in London,
King's
a
King's College was
College
uuilding.
I
the
was
man named Dr. Fredrich Eagles, who
proved to be most helpful.
When I
saw the
"dinosaurs" \.;rith
s Lorage I'oom
which I
quite discouraged.
I
recently
had
made
neHs.
listened
He
shoHed me
and
to Dr. Eagles.
very
was now
part of
sympathetically,
had
I
the political
and the
and
requested to
"campus
It
very' l\indly
he
He gave me a
see.
(bu i Iding ) ,
and shohfed me
their view of the river Thames and the National Theatre.
told me thaL the original WaLson and Crick
London at
became
had told him about Lhis distressing
I
the equipment
tour of the College
was evident
I
the fruitless two-hour trip Lo Cambridge,
the Cavendish
department,
old X-l'Ciy d if (' rac Lion
did not have much familiarity,
This, of course,
only to find that
science
Cind Lhe
the British
model was
He also
10caLed ill
Museum, but it was inside glass, and with
my unsophisticated camera,
might have
I
difficulty obtaining
cHI
acceptable photograph.
Then I
casually asked him abouL the status of Dr. Wilkins at
King's College.
-
He
told
me
that
Dr.
Wilkins
. . . as
retirement, but he came in on certain days of the week
course about Medical Law and Ethics.
to
Lalk
I--.ith
me,
i
r
he
in semi-
to teach a
I wondered i f he mighL like
could fit me into his schedule.
D1'.
10
Eag les \-ras
Dr.
thrilled at.
Wilkins
immediately
would
and
this suggestion, nearly assuring me thaI
not
made
mind
an
Wilkins three weeks later,
stroke of
ever
so
appointment.
aL
my
with
for
graciously,
and
left
me.
King's
He
called
HIe to talk with Dr.
convenience!
luck I so desparat.ely needed, and I
strolling along the Strand.
-
talking
This
~·ms
the
thanked Dr. Eagles
College
~histljng
and
11
COMPLETE REFERENCE LIST
Astbury, W.T. (1947). X-ray studies of nucleic acids.
the Society of Experimental Biology., 1, 66-76.
Symposia of
Chargaff, E., Zamenhof, S.,
&
Brawerman,
G.
(1962).
desoxy pen Lose nue 1 e ie ac ids from several 1111croo ['gan i
Biochlmica et Biophysica Acta, 9, 402-05.
On Lhe
SIllS.
Furberg, S. (J952). On the structure of nucleic acids.
Acta Chemica Scandinavica, 6, 634-640.
Moritz, C. tEd.,. (1963). t>1.H.F. Wilkins.
C'UITenl Biography
Yearbook (24th ed.). New York:
The H.W. Wilson Co.
Olby, R. (1974). The Path to the Double Helix.
University of Washington Press.
Pauling, L. & CoreJ, R.B. (J953). A proposed structure for the
nucleic acids.
Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, 39, 84-97.
Reldman,
S.R.
&
Gustafson,
E.T.
(1963).
PorLraits
Laurea t>es in Medic i He and Ph,v s iology .
Lundon:
Abelard-Schuman Ltd.
Soukes, T.1,. & Stevenson, L.G.
Medicine and Physiology:
Abelard-Schuman.
Watson, J.D.
Helix.
---
of Nobel
(1966). Nobel Prize Winners in
1901-1965 (2nd ed.). Lundon:
(1986; originally
published in
New York:
Penguin Books.
1968) .
The Double
Watson, J.D. & Crick, F.H.C. (1953). Mulecular sLructure uf
nucleic acids:
A structure for
deox.yrlbuse nucleic acid.
Nature, 171 (4356), 737-38.
Who's Who (139Lh ed.). (1987). M.H.F.
St. Martin's Press.
\';i1kins.
Wilkins, M.H.F. & Randall, J.T. (1953). Cr,YsLalliniLyi.n
sperm beads:
molecular strucluee of nucleopcotein
~vivc..
Biochimica el Bioph,vsica AcLa, 10, 192-93.
Wyatt,
-
G.R.
(1952).
Journal of Gerwral Physiolog,Y,
36,
20].
APPENDICES
The
first
appendix
an
1S
professor, Dr. Mertens, and
1 submitted
Am e ric a n B i-"o,---l~o=g,-"Y,-----=T-,e::..:a:::.(,,"-?-,-,h:...::e,,--[,,-· •
The second
the article as il appears on
issue of the above periodical.
-
original
pages
manuscripL
to be
appendix
151-153
of
h'hich
Illy
published in lhe
1S
lhe
a reprint of
March 1989
An Interview wi th Nobel Laurea Le [vIauI'ice Wilk i
tiS
Stephanie Johnson
and
Thomas R. Mertens
Stephanie Johnson
State University.
in
Autumn,
Wilkins.
Professor
1987,
18
an undergraduate biology major at Ball
While studying at
she
had
the
opportunity
to
London CenLre
interview Dr.
Her faculty advisor is Thomas R. NerLens, Distinguished
of
Biology
Education
at
former presidenL (1985) of NABT.
-
Ball Stale's
Office Telephone (TRM):
317-285-8827
Home Telephone (TRM):
317-284-69cl2
Ball
SLate University and
19f) 2,
In
thr'ee
!,1aurice
lIlen,
Wilkins,
in Medicine
James Watson, shared the Nobel Prize
for
what
many
biology"
have
(Sourkes
"the
called
& Stevenson
greatest diseovery -in mudern
1966) .
This
issue
1953
first published in the April 25,
Franklin, has
and Physiolugy
the
discover'y,
the structure of deuxyribonueleic acid (DNA)
elucidation of
work, wh.ich
Fr'ancls Crick, and
of
wa~
I
Nature.
Th.is
included that of the X-ray cryslaJlographer Rosalind
virtually paved
the
for the
I"ay
entire field of
modern genetics.
Deoxyribonucleic acid,
better known as DNA,
component of a]l living cells.
is an essential
It is composed of
four different
nucleotides, each of which is made up of a nitrogenous base,
carbon
sugOlr
nucleotide
(deoxyribose),
components
a
phosphate
arranged
are
polynucleotide chains forming
about .itself
and
a
in
ladder-like
subunit.
t\JO
.is
its
function
in
com!> lemen tary
struetu['e,
cells;
it
genetic code and establishes patterns of heredity.
of its structure has answered many
raising many
questions about
oLhers 14hich
have been
5-
The
twisted
to constiLute what is called a "double bellx."
importance of DNA
well as
;1
The
carries the
The dis c 0 ve r' ,\'
genetics, as
and are
~urrently
being researched by scientists allover the world.
Haurice Wilkins
One of the IIlen involved in the discovery of the structure of
-
DNA
was
the
Brl Lish
biophysicist,
Maurice
Wilkins.
Pongaroa, Ne,,' Zealand in 1916, Wllkins was brought
Born
ltl
to England at
age sjx to be educated at I\ing EdhlH.r'd's School in Birmingham.
Ht~
15
then
earned
Camln'idge
under
his
degree
B.A.
1938 from St.
.In
He did
(Reidman & Gustafson 1963).
Sir
Juhn
lUIllinescenc~l~
the
at
Randall
and phosphorescence
l h use a r n i n:g his Ph. D.
During World
d t~ g l' e e
War IT,
of
related
.i n 1 9 4 0
Birmingham on
Lo
(1'10 I' i t z
radar screens,
1 96 3 ) .
Wi thins came to the Uni Led StaLes \',i Lh
Lhe NanhalLan
other nuc ledr phy s i.c i s ts Lo wu ['k un
developed the
graduate research
University
as
John's College,
Specj fically,
atomic bomb.
ProjecL which
~-I(Jl'ked
v,-llhins
on the
separatiorl of uranium isotopes at the University of California in
Berkeley.
i\f Le r
he re turned to England and focused hi s
the wa [',
interests on the field of biology (Reidman
After his r-eturn to
physics at St.
Britain, Wilkins
became a
Andrew's University in Scotland ill
of
(r-1orjtz
London
1963) .
He
lecturer on
19~5.
at King's
he joined the Nedical Resear-ch Council
University
& Gustafson 1963).
In 1946,
College of
the
became an honorary
lecturer in the sub-department of biophysics at King's College in
1958, and
he was
a professor
of molecular
biology at the same
institution from 1963-1970 (Whu's Who 1987).
In Lhe early 1950s, Wi.lkins was working
into which
he inserted
a glass
examined the fiber under
recognized that
structure was
-
diffraction
a nllCr'OScope
the flbeous
c.rystall i.ne.
Lechnique
rod and
in studying
this
information
h'
began to
DNA.
j
th
a gel
extracted a
DNA was
believe that the structure of DNA was in
discussed
ith
He
lighL and
a hinL
LhaL
iL~
employ the X-ray
X-ray data
a helical
C rich.
of DNA,
fiber.
hiLh polarized
nature of
He then
~ ..
and
led him
pattern.
Wats()n,
1,0
He
~vho
IG
i ncorpoI'a Led it
1.fl
building their model of the sLructuI'P of DNA.
This contrL)uti.on by Wi lkins led to
his sharing
\.:iLh Watson and
Cdck in th,= 1962 Nobel Pri;..-;e (Reidman & Gustafson 1963).
the American
In 1968,
Public Health Association r-ecogni;.o;pd
Watson, and
the accomplishments of Wilkins,
~lbert
the
them
Lasker
uf the
honorary member
1969 became
and in
In 1964, Wilkins
Award.
American Society
president uf
Responsibility in Science.
Crich by presenting
flallled an
\~as
of Biulogical Chemists
the Brjtish Society for Sucial
Wilkins became
In 1970,
an honoraI';\,
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1984,
a member of
Food and Disarmament International
The
In November,
visit with
(Fig.
1)
of the
career.
intervie~.J
the first author
1987,
Dr. Wilkins
In his
had the
office at King's
and tu ash: him several questions
Nobel
Pri~e
interests.
opportunity Lo
Col1eg(~,
commented upon
genetics is
the direction
headed, and
His thoughts
and
insights
Lundun
concerning his receipL
and its effects on his professional
Wilkins also
feels modern
(Whu's Who 1987).
liff~
and
In I"hich he
upon his current research
will, no
doubl,
interest
all Hho admi ['e his con tr i bu t j ons Lo modern biolog:{.
The Nobel
Nobel Prize
Dr.
-
Wilkins
Irl
Prize.
When asked,
1962 had on
responded
as
your career
follows:
people wanL to work wiLh you. "
",.lncreClse In
[my] salary
expected, a Nobel PI' i
~e
"What effect has sharing the
and pro fess i ona 1 1 j fe?'f ,
"Hore and higher quality
He also noLed
that there
and professional status."
h'inner I'ece l ves
an increased
was an
As might be
number uf
17
wider
and conferences on
example,
'Science
topics
the
receipt
to speal\ at conferences
at
the Manhattan Project
yea r s, howe '/ e r,
h (::' has
field;
o\~n
p [' .i z e
Nnbel
the
sllch widely divergent
OIl
Wor ld War I I
In
Berkeley, California.
as a
to address confer'enc.es
on
it
~obel
such
",111
is
more recent
speak on
0
he
thinks
may
tltis
He
to
topics.
Some
the
Furthermore, Wtlhins
Laureates
e.,
just
weal;,:
a
believes
public
feel
[ Lha t]
it's
r ipld
topics beyond one's
Furthermore, Dr.
be
responsibilIty."
responsibillly
Laureate, he has oppoctuniLiel:-;
ther topi cs" -- i.
of scientific expertise.
and Peace."
Alfred Nobe] 's spir'it tu accept sume
respons i bi 1 i ty in thi s ar'ea.
wrong to
topics.
Lurn e d b i saL ten t ion to s i g n i fie ant g I () b a 1
B0cause of
that
"() pen s
he had I"orked on
problems such as "World Hunger" alld "Nuclear Weapons
believes
fut'
or 'Science and Religion'."
of
that during
Wilkins recalled
[one's]
than
World'
the
and
Wilkins believes that
doors"
mure invitations Lo speak at meetings
speak and
invitations to
Wilkins asserLpd that
excuse
that
tu
gel uuL of
Laut'eates
and should study
have
a
the problems of
science and society.
Current
In ter'es ts.
Research
Although
he
began
pro f e s s ion a :_ (; a l' e e l' a s a p h y sic i s t, Dr. Wi 1 kin s i s be s L h 11 0
his contributions
the "back
-
door"
demonstrates
10
of
huw
significant impact
biology,
a
biophysics.
other'
UIl
field
~.;hich
he
Wn
his
for
enLel'ed Lhrough
His long and successful career
scientific
disciplines
the development of biology.
have
had
a
18
In discussing his research,
\"ilkins provided sOIlle tJaL'kgl'ouwl
about hjs more recent interests:
I did
neurobiology, mainly
ner\-e eeJ 1 1IlC'IlIUralles,
for sOllie
;--eal'S, buL
tbis ha::;
!lot \-e1') f~X('it ing and I
was noL \-pry jnLeresLerl in lhal.
I
,,,as inLf:?J'eslt~d HI
neurobiulug~, but.
I couldn'l
find a
suiLable line of
;01 0 r h. h- hie h \,!i:i S r' e a 11 ;y
in Le l' e s Lin g ,
sol
g a ve
i L up
after a ~.;rhilf~.
1'1ore
Dr.
l"ecently,
Wilhins
has
"Science and
broader i SSJPS at
UIP
famine,
disarmament,
national
scientists.
His
organizations
concerned
wiLh
Society"
to
inlerface--fuod and
the social responsibility uf
and
and
directed his energies
leadership
international
these
problems
lfl
has already been
cited.
Directions of Hodern Genetics.
a
geneticist,
because hjs
g e n e Li c s,
nee u u 1 d ex pee t
h i III t u h a v e
0
the direclions
if I which modern genetics is headed.
,.;~ith
Wilhins
1S
0
him led to some uf Wi.lh:ins's sLrongest
vie \" S O i l
Pur'suing this
staLefll~"nLs:
I think then~ is one thing I can sa~, and
Lhal is
that I
am not very happy about the effec'\: of JllulecuL.H'
b i () log yon p eo p 1 e 's mi 11 d s .
C [' i c h
has
a 1 wa J S
bee n a
very
hard
] ine
materialist,
and Watson has got. like
this, too.
They think e\-erythjng about life
and human
beings
can
be
explained
in
terms
of
a_turns
and
molecules.
Nm", I'm put1ing i t very roughly.
-
noL
work on DNA has had such an impact on
the dis c i pI i n e
issue
f
Although Dr.
I third;;
they've
got
a
bit
naet'ow
minded, the
molecular biologists.
Holecular biolog;- is, ub\jously,
ex t I'eme 1 y important.
TL
has enormous
po len t. i ali Ly l n
many areas
of Be ience
and medicine.
BuL
T Lhink j t
~'01dd be a great mistake to thinh that,
it is
going tu
cornprhend everything.
\everl:heless, molecular biology
is a very pO~Jerful tool In science.
;.;ays,
I think
it
l S,
In
some
doing molecular
dj s B f:~ r"i icp to B ome~.:lla 1. mi s r'epresen L i t
biology a
BuL
I
think
they're
quite
right
hTay
that
lhe
i l
lS
19
developing,
there
seems
to
be
potentiality . . this field.
Quite
where
go, I don't know.
arguments
his
In
biologi~:ts
,
In
~;ever·al
discussi'~.HIS
meeting
reflects
Wilkins
and whetL
seemed to
Thf~
concf-~
Nobelists
cultural,
social,
recombinan t
concerned,
ways
one
\..;ould be
I
you
see,
as
the s tuden Ls \.Jere
think
that
about the pussible
effects of
developments
genetics, Wilkins noted
far
a~"ful
the Nobel
Laureates at
as
lot. ,.
as people say,
Clearly
serious ethical
genetic
lin
are
there are
certain l·esull,
the Lindau
thal
but he
meeting seemed to
be
~.,;r·ong.
"This
playing God.
he be] ie'ves
problems.
diseases
He noted Lhat.
the genes themselves hould
genes you would alter and what
to be?"
Lhe hU1l1an
prublellls it
seemed to
[enough]
to hUlllan
cannot do an
agree that Lo al tel'
-
rned
to alter somatic cells to produce a
said that
ethical
think that
studenLs
a [·ea of
Ul e
C\
DNA .,ork]."
moment,
the
kind of
and philosophical
Turning specifically
"at
i
the studenLs "".,-anted tu know all about.
very hard on the Laureates:
the
mainly German natiunals.
loJith fuur or fivp experts ,""orking
implications of this work
and
in,
held discussiuIls
Laureates
hundred medical students,
recombinant DNA,
might raise."
inLerests
his
He related bis exper·iences
Nobel
"here
uf many mulecular·
mindset
the
humanity and education.
al the Lindau
before
clearly
Wilkins
concerns for,
against
immense
going to
cUI
iL's
the forms
of
Lhe
new genes oughL
human genet"ic: manipuJation
raise~
20
Wilkins wenL
on to
say,
own feeling hould be IhaL this
"My
future."
in the
type of ethical problem will geL more acule
He
believes that the sure way to deal with those ethical problems
Lo Leach
His belief in education has led him
through education.
1S
a discussiof', COUI'se about the social impact of the biosciences at
King's College, London.
Dr.
Wilkins
and give us increased power lo control
knowledge increases
moral and ethical problems are likely' Lo arise.
should
have
as scient,ifjc
tha t
noLed
discussion
of
lots
the
medical people, and
pUblic"
bel ieves "\.;e
He
scientisls,
between
concerning
life,
what
lawyers,
these
pt~opl
e
think we ought Lo do in dealing with science and society issues.
Impressions
Dr.
Wilkins
said
that
agreed to a personal
he
because he likes to encourage young people who
pursue these interests.
science to
jnteI'vje\,'
aI'e inteI'ested in
Cet'Lainly the OPPof'tunlty to
have a private interview with a Nobel Laureate whose work has had
a
major
Lmpact
encouraging,
biology,
on
was Dr.
however,
an
Nost
inspit'atioIl.
Wilkins's personal "down-Lu-eal'Lh"
approach in the inter\iiew, and his very evident cuncer'n for' human
values and for the \>lell being of all hurnani ty.
Maurice
Wilkins,
humanitarian, should
to
-
pursue
careers
Nobel
scientist,
s t i mu 1a te the in te t'es t
ln
science.
As
an
0
Lau t'ea te ,
f
and
many young peo pI e
advocate
of science
education and scientific literacy, he ought to have impact on the
lives of
all citizens
an understanding
uf science is
21
essential
for
informed
Twentieth Century.
-
living
these
last
years
of
the
-
22
References
Moritz, C.
(Ed. ).
( 1963) .
Biography Yearbook,
Current
i'1.H.F. Wilkins.
The H.W.
24th ed.
Wilson Co.
Reidman, S.R. & Gustafson, E.T.
Portraits of Nobel
(1963).
Laureates in Medic'ine and Physiolog,v.
London:
Abelard-Schuman Limited.
(1966).
Soul'l.es, T.L. & Stevenson, L.G.
in Medicine and Physiology:
London:
Watson,
Nobel Prizewinners
1901-1965,
2nd ed.
Abelard-Schuman Limited.
J.D. & Crick, F.H.C.
of nucleic acids.
(1953)
Nature,
(1987) .
171,
l'LH.F.
Molecular structure
(4356),
737-38.
Wilkins.
Ne~~
York:
St. Martin's Press.
Caption
Figure 1.
Dr. Maurice H.F. Wilkins, photographed in his office
November 19, 1987.
(Pho lograph by Stephanie ,Johnson.)