Double Helix Research Paper

In 1953, Francis Crick, along with James Watson, came up with the idea that DNA was in a double-helix structure. Well, they were the ones that got the Nobel Prize in 1962. A huge part of the discovery of the double-helix structure should go to Rosalind Franklin. But, since she was a woman, she did not receive much recognition for her work. In 1952, Raymond Gosling, under Franklin’s guidance, took an X-ray diffraction image of DNA. This image proved that DNA was a double-helix. The experiment is posted below. As one can see, Photo 51 paved the way for Crick and Watson to prove that DNA is a double-helix. To fully understand the importance of this discovery, the parts that make up DNA must be discussed. DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid. In 1868, a gentleman by the name of Friedrich Miescher discovered nuclein which is how the term “nucleic acid” got to be in the name. Before this, an experiment was done by Gregor Mendel that involved peas. His experiment proved that the shade of green was passed down through the different groups of peas. This would prove that genes are important in DNA and that what one is made of now is passed down through generations. Then, in 1944, Oswald Avery cemented this theory by moving a disease from one strand of bacteria to another. Not only did this prove the nucleic acid idea,
Deoxyribose is a sugar and phosphate and this is what makes up the outside of the double-helix structure. There are four different types and they are as follows: Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thymine. Adenine goes with Thymine and Guanine goes with Cytosine. These will always go together. It does not matter which side they are on, but they will always pair up together. There is no other reason as to why these pair with each other except to create a chemical balance. Adenine and Thymine share two Hydrogen atoms and Guanine and Cytosine share three Hydrogen