Letter from James D. Watson to Francis Crick
- 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