| Contents Notes |
Part I. DNA, function and structure: the elucidation of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, the genetic material. "He was a very remarkable follow. Even more odd then, than later." -- "DNA, you know is Midas' gold. Everybody who touches it goes mad." -- "Then they ask you, 'What is the significance of DNA for mankind, Dr. Watson?'" -- "Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid," by J.D. Watson F.H.C. Crick. Nature, vol. 171 (25 April 1953), pages 737-738. -- On T.H. Morgan's deviation and the secret of life. -- Part II. RNA, the functions of the structure: the breaking of the genetic code, the discovery of the messenger -- "The number of the beast" -- "My mind was, that a dogma was an idea for which there was no reasonable evidence! You see?" -- "The gene was something in the minds of people as inaccessible as the material of the galaxies" -- "He wasn't a member of the club." -- Part III. Protein, structure and function: the solution of how protein molecules work -- "As always, I was driven on by wild expectations" -- "I have discovered the second secret of life" -- "Always the same impasse" -- A postcard from Mount Fourier. A historical account of the central line of discoveries of molecular biology, how the discoveries came to be made, and the people who made them. |
