Title:

Letter from James D. Watson to Francis Crick

Creator:

Watson, James D., 1928-

Recipient:

Crick, Francis, 1916-2004

Date:

15 October 1954

Description:

After the discovery of the DNA double helix, Watson put off a return to his previous field of research, bacterial viruses, in order to study the structure of ribonucleic acid (RNA), the single-stranded companion molecule to DNA which he and Crick recognized to be the key intermediary in protein synthesis. In this letter, Watson relayed his thoughts about how DNA specified the synthesis of RNA, namely by acting as a template, and whether one or both strands of DNA act as a template.

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:

RNA and DNA

Format:

Text

Extent:

3 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:

SCBBJQ

NLM ID:

101584582X121

Profiles Collection:

The Francis Crick Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584582X121

Story Section:

Defining the Genetic Coding Problem, 1954-1957