Title:

Letter from James D. Watson to Francis Crick

Creator:

Watson, James D., 1928-

Recipient:

Crick, Francis, 1916-2004

Date:

3 March 1955

Description:

Both Crick and Watson focused on virus structure in the mid-1950s because studying viruses, in particular Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) and related plant viruses, allowed them to investigate the structure and function of RNA (ribonucleic acid), which together with regular repeating units of protein makes up the molecules of which TMV consists. As the single-stranded companion molecule to DNA, RNA held obvious interest for Crick and Watson in their attempt to understand the way in which RNA specifies the synthesis of proteins, triggered whenever TMV infects a host cell.. In laying out experimental details about the structure of TMV, Watson confirmed Rosalind Franklin's finding that the strands of RNA bound the virus' hollow core: "The localization of the RNA within a central core is now a solid fact."

Original Repository:

The Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Francis Harry Compton Crick Papers

Location:

Box: 26. Folder: PP/CRI/D/2/45

Rights:

Reproduced with permission of James D. Watson.

Genre:

Letters (correspondence)

Subject:

Tobacco Mosaic Virus and RNA

Format:

Text

Extent:

4 pages

Language:

English

Legacy Source Citation:

Original Repository. Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Francis Harry Compton Crick Papers. 11646. URL. http://archives.wellcome.ac.uk/

Legacy ID:

SCBBJM

NLM ID:

101584582X118

Profiles Collection:

The Francis Crick Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584582X118

Story Section:

Defining the Genetic Coding Problem, 1954-1957