DNA Papers #12: Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin, and the double helix model for DNA structure

Perspectives on Science

Episode 12 of the DNA Papers, is the first of a two-parter, which centers on papers published about the now iconic double helix structure of the DNA molecule. This episode features three publications, all published in the journal Nature, which represent the work of scientists working at King’s College London, whose X-ray crystallographic work provided some of the crucial data that supported the new double helix model. Wilkins, Maurice Hugh Frederick, Alec R. Stokes, and Herbert R. Wilson. “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids.” Nature 171, no. 4356 (1953): 738–40. Franklin, Rosalind E., and Raymond G. Gosling. “Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate.” Nature 171, no. 4356 (1953): 740–41. Franklin, Rosalind E., and Raymond G. Gosling. “Evidence for 2-Chain Helix in Crystalline Structure of Sodium Deoxyribonucleate.” Nature 172 (1953): 156–57. Tune in to listen to our panel of experts in a lively and informative conversation about the place of these papers in the history of our understanding of DNA: Soraya de Chadarevian, University of California, Los Angeles Elspeth Garman, Oxford University Kersten Hall, University of Leeds Jan Witkowski, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory See also a collection of Resources at https://www.chstm.org/video/144 Closed captioning available on YouTube. Recorded on Nov. 6, 2023.