Title:

Letter from Marshall W. Nirenberg to Francis Crick

Creator:

Nirenberg, Marshall W.

Recipient:

Crick, Francis, 1916-2004

Date:

1 June 1965

Description:

In this letter Nirenberg reported on the ongoing effort of his laboratory to identify the codons (nucleotide triplets) that specify each of the twenty common amino acids during protein synthesis. (A nucleotide is made of a base and the sugar and phosphate groups of the DNA or RNA backbone to which it binds.) The elucidation of the genetic code was completed the following year, including the identification of three nonsense triplets (mentioned in the letter) that did not code for any amino acid.

Original Repository:

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

Location:

Box: 36. Folder: PP/CRI/E/1/13/10

Rights:

Public Domain

Genre:

Letters (correspondence)

Subject:

Genetic Code

Format:

Text

Extent:

2 pages

Relation:

Letter from Francis Crick to Marshall W. Nirenberg, 1965

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:

SCBBDC

NLM ID:

101584582X33

Profiles Collection:

The Francis Crick Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584582X33

Story Section:

Deciphering the Genetic Code, 1958-1966