A Cry for Help

A co-founder of the structure of DNA, Francis Crick, died this week. When I was in high school, I counted Dr. Crick among my heroes. In college, I fretted over the realization that I could never experience what he and partner James Watson must have felt in literally unlocking the secret to life.

One of the most eye-opening and inspiring moments of my studies came when I read the single page article from a 1953 volume of the journal Nature that revolutionized biology and medicine. One page that changed the course of history, beginning with the words "We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest." Understatement of the century?

Rest in peace, Dr. Crick.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 30th, 2004 at 4:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.