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01446_Field_39.cap.txt
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1996-03-14
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All living things
have inherited
characteristics:
we are not surprised
when children look
or act like their
parents. Crick
and Watson's
achievement
was to lay bare
the mechanism
whereby inborn
traits - from
blond hair to
artistic talent -
are passed on
from generation
to generation
#
The double helix
has an almost
architectural kind
of beauty, like a
spiral staircase
or a finely
wrought column.
And within this
microscopic
form is contained
the individual
blueprint of each
living thing
#
Crick and Watson
shared a Nobel
Prize with
Maurice Wilkins.
Wilkins' colleague
Rosalind Franklin,
whose X-rays
provided the final
proof of DNA is
often forgotten.
She died in 1958,
and her death
solved a problem
for the Nobel
committee, since
the Prize can only
be split three
ways and cannot
be awarded
posthumously
#
James Watson
went on to write
a best-seller,
The Double Helix,
on the dramatic
discovery of DNA.
The book was
notable as much
for its acidic
insights into
his partner's
personality as
for its scientific
content
#
Thirty years
after Crick
and Watson's
discovery, other
scientists had
successfully used
their findings to
develop new
techniques in
biotechnology.
The discovery of
the nature of DNA
opened up a whole
new scientific
field: genetic
engineering
#
The latest steps
taken in genetic
technology have
created a multi-
billion dollar
industry which
is striving to
improve food
medicines and
materials for
industry. In the
brave new world
of the future we
will see the use
of human genes
to fight disease
#
Crick left Britain
for tax reasons,
and continued
his research in
California. In
perhaps his most
ambitious project
yet, he came up
with some novel
theories about
the way the
brain works
@