Title:

Letter from James D. Watson to Francis Crick

Creator:

Watson, James D., 1928-

Recipient:

Crick, Francis, 1916-2004

Date:

28 March 1954

Description:

After the discovery of the DNA double helix and his return to the United States, Watson turned 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. Watson here reported his first measurements of the dimensions of the RNA molecule and speculated that it might be a helix, but admitted that resolving the structure of RNA "is obviously a much tougher puzzle than DNA" (p.2).

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:

2 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:

SCBBJR

NLM ID:

101584582X122

Profiles Collection:

The Francis Crick Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584582X122

Story Section:

Defining the Genetic Coding Problem, 1954-1957