Title:

General Model for the Chromosomes of Higher Organisms

Creator:

Crick, Francis, 1916-2004

Date:

5 November 1971

Description:

Crick here proposed a general model for the structure of chromosomes in higher eukaryotic cells. His model was designed to account for discoveries made during the 1960s that most of the DNA in higher organisms did not code for proteins but carried out genetic control functions, and that chromosomal DNA was most often associated with proteins, mainly histones, rather than in its pure double-helical form. Crick's model posited that chromosomal DNA consisted of "bands" of highly folded, unpaired single-stranded segments of double-stranded DNA, which carried out control functions. In between these stretches of "globular" DNA were much shorter stretches of "fibrous" DNA, similarly unpaired and single-stranded but extended and not folded, which coded for proteins.

Periodical:

Nature

Publisher:

Nature Publishing Group

Rights:

Reproduced with permission of the Nature Publishing Group. and http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html

Genre:

Articles

Format:

Text

Extent:

3 pages

Language:

English

Legacy Source Citation:

Periodical. Crick, Francis. "General Model for the Chromosomes of Higher Organisms." Nature 234, (5 November 1971): 25-27. Article. 3 Images.. Nature

Legacy ID:

SCBCCM

NLM ID:

101584582X434

Profiles Collection:

The Francis Crick Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584582X434

Story Section:

Embryology and the Organization of DNA in Higher Organisms, 1966-1976