The history of the DNA structure and the genetic code

DNA short for deoxyribonucleic acid is the carrier of the genetic code and thus the key to genetic
inheritance. In other words DNA contains the blueprint for life. The genetic code which DNA
carries is a set of complex instructions that are coded in all genetic material including DNA and
mRNA.These detailed instructions tell the cells of living organisms how they should grow and
develop. On a more scientific level the genetic code is the chemical language that translates the
language of the nucleic acids into language of the amino acids.

The structure of the DNA molecule had for a long time baffled scientists since its accidental
discovery in 1869 by Swiss physicist Johann Friedrich Miescher. Miescher had identified a
weakly acidic solution of unknown function in the nuclei of human white blood cells which he
later called nuclein. It was quite a number of years later when this substance was given the name
deoxyribonucleic acid.

In the year 1953 American scientist and British researcher, James Watson and Francis Crick
discovered the molecular structure of the DNA molecule. This feat was accomplished not only
after many trial and error theories but after endless study of the work of previous scientist who
paved the foundation for Watson and Crick based on their discoveries.

Physicist Sir William Henry Bragg, and his son, Sir William Lawrence Bragg, in the year 1912
discovered that X-ray diffraction patterns helped in the determination of atomic structure. This
finding would prove itself vital in helping Watson and Crick determine DNA's structure.

Later on in 1924 microscopy using stains for DNA and protein indicated the presence of both
substances in chromosomes.

Franklin Griffith, a British medical officer, four years later discovered that genetic information
can be transferred from heat-killed bacteria cells to live ones. This process called transformation
provided the first evidence that the genetic material is a heat-stable chemical. Later Oswald
Avery, and his colleagues Maclyn McCarty and Colin MacLeod, identified Griffith's
transforming agent as DNA. However their discovery was treated with skepticism as many
believed that the DNA molecule was too simple to carry genetic material.

After many tests scientists at the time knew the components of the DNA molecule however they
did not know much about its nitrogenous bases and if and how they affected the DNA molecule
and its structure. It is Erwin Chargaff, a biochemist, who proposes that the amount of DNA and
its nitrogenous bases varies from one species to another. Chargaff later discovered that the
amount of adenine equals the amount of thymine, and the amount of guanine equals the amount
of cytosine in DNA from every species.
In 1953, Linus Pauling, an American chemist, proposed the structure of the DNA molecule,
however it was the structure proposed by Watson and Crick that is deemed correct as Pauling
proposed structure is a triple helix. Watson and Crick’s double helical structure was constructed
a stick and ball model and was based on a photograph of an X-ray diffraction experiment done
by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.

With the structure of the DNA molecule solved scientists aimed further to decipher the genetic
code. For this like the structure of DNA would take several experiments and some time. For in
1961 Sidney Brenner and Francis Crick establish that groups of three nucleotide bases or codons
are used to specify individual amino acids. Later in 1966 the genetic code was deciphered when
biochemical analysis revealed which codons determine which amino acids.
 Reference

(1) Unknown; Unknown: Milestones in DNA history;

http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/WYW/wkbooks/SFTS/sidebarmilestone.php ;
4/10/2010
(2) Unknown; Unknown; Structure of DNA;
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/DNA-Structure.php ; 4/10/2010
(3) Unknown; Unknown; DNA timeline; http://www.dnai.org/timeline; 4/10/2010
(4) Free Resource; Unknown; http://thefreeresource.com/the
genetic_code_history_facts_and_resources_about_genetics_dna_rna; 4/10/2010