Nucleic Acids by Crick (11 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Photographs And Drawings (illustrator). First Edition. 284 Pp., An Exceptionally Large Scientific American Issue, With The Article By Francis Crick. Very Good, Light Usage. Original Magazine. Light Wear. Tiny Tears Around Staples.

First edition, complete volume, signed by Crick on the first paper; 8vo (24.5 x 17 cm); illustrations throughout the text, 1982 ownership inscription of J.D. Mollon to front pastedown, spotting to early and late leaves; contemporary green library cloth, titles to spine gilt, red speckled edges, corners bumped and worn, a little wear at the ends of the spine, lower joint just starting, very good condition; 1168pp, 64 page index. First edition, the complete journal volume containing the first four papers on the structure of DNA, signed by Crick on the 'Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids' paper. From the library of John D. Mollon, eminent professor of visual neuroscience at Cambridge.

(28 x 21,5 cm). 8 (3) S. Mit zahlreichen Abbildungen. Original-Broschur. (Sonderdruck aus: Scientific American). Erste Ausgabe. - "If proteins are the principal stuff of life, the nucleic acids are its blue prints-the molecules on which the Secret of Life, if we may speak of such a thing, is written. The nucleic acids occur in every living cell. It seems, according to our best present information, that they direct the manufacture of proteins and hold the key to the hereditary constitution of all living things. Like the proteins, the nucleic acids are high polymers, but they are polymers with a difference. If we ever achieve a complete understanding of their construction and behavior, we shall probably have the answer to how nature goes about forming each living organism" (Einleitung). - Name auf Titel, sonst gut erhalten.

First edition. Discovery of the Double Helix and the Birth of Molecular Biology. First edition, rare, journal issues in the original printed wrappers, of the four papers by which the double-helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid was announced to the world and its implications for heredity set out. The 25 April 1953 issue of Nature carries, under the common head-title 'Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids,' three successive papers of a little over a page each: the Watson-Crick paper proposing the double helix with antiparallel sugar-phosphate backbones and complementary base-pairing; the Wilkins-Stokes-Wilson paper reporting the X-ray diffraction evidence that the B-form of DNA is helical; and the Franklin-Gosling paper giving the X-ray diffraction evidence that is in fact decisive for the helical structure, including the famous oxygen positions and fibre-diagram symmetry that Watson and Crick had used, in Franklin's absence and without her permission, to arrive at their model. Five weeks later, in the 30 May issue, the Watson-Crick paper 'Genetical Implications of the Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid' sets out what the two 1953 issues together amount to: that the sequence of bases along the double helix is the carrier of hereditary information; that the complementary structure of the molecule itself supplies the mechanism by which this information is copied from one generation to the next; and that mutation can be understood, for the first time, as a change at a single, localisable position in the molecule. For this body of work Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; Franklin, who had died of ovarian cancer in 1958 at the age of thirty-seven, was not named. The two issues together are listed in One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine as item 99, in Dibner's Heralds of Science as item 200, in Norman as 534, and in Garrison-Morton as 256.3, 256.4, 256.8, 752.1, and 752.7, reflecting the five distinct discoveries it is possible to cite them for. The problem the papers solved had been on the agenda of biology for eighty-four years. In 1869 the Swiss physiological chemist Friedrich Miescher, working in Felix Hoppe-Seyler's laboratory at Tübingen, had extracted from the nuclei of pus-coated surgical bandages a substance of unprecedentedly high phosphorus content, resistant to the proteolytic enzymes of the day, which he had named 'nuclein.' Miescher and his successors had correctly predicted that a whole family of such phosphorus-rich substances would be found to exist, equivalent in rank to the proteins, but the physiological role of the nucleins had remained unknown for the rest of the century. In 1944 Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty, at the Rockefeller Institute, had established through the pneumococcal transformation experiment that the hereditary material of the cell-the 'transforming principle'-was not, as most biochemists had expected, a protein but was Miescher's nuclein, now understood chemically as deoxyribonucleic acid. Through the following decade the basic chemistry of DNA was worked out: Alexander Todd at Cambridge had established the phosphate-sugar backbone; Erwin Chargaff at Columbia had discovered, from 1950 onward, that in DNA preparations from any source the molar ratio of adenine to thymine and of guanine to cytosine is always one to one, though the A+T to G+C ratio varies between species. These were the data. But what arrangement of atoms produced them, and how the arrangement could act as the carrier of hereditary information through the generations, remained entirely obscure. Two groups in England were applying X-ray crystallographic methods to DNA by the start of 1951. At the Medical Research Council Biophysics Unit at King's College London, under Sir John Randall, Maurice Wilkins had initiated a programme of X-ray diffraction work on DNA fibres; he was joined in late 1950 by Raymond Gosling, then a graduate student, and in January 1951 by Rosalind Franklin, a p.

First Edition. Offprint, 8vo (210 x 140mm), pp. 14, with two diagrams (including the double helix) and two illustrations from photographs. The three-paper offprint issue, of the primary record of the co-discovery of the molecular structure of DNA, the most transformative moment in twentieth-century biology. Stapled in self-wrappers as issued. Signed by Maurice Wilkins on the first page. Very lightly toned and a coulpe soft creases, near fine. Grolier Club, One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, 99; Dibner, Heralds of Science, 200. Garrison-Morton 256.3; Judson, Eighth Day of Creation, pp. 145-56. Ex-Dr. Myron Printzmetal. The discovery of DNA's double helix structure emerged from an intense period of competitive collaboration between research teams at Cambridge and King's College London. Watson and Crick's theoretical breakthrough synthesized crucial experimental evidence from multiple sources: Erwin Chargaff's base composition rules demonstrating the 1:1 ratio of adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine, X-ray crystallographic data revealing DNA's helical structure, and most critically, the precise measurements of backbone positioning and molecular dimensions. Their elegant model proposed complementary base pairing (A-T and C-G) held together by hydrogen bonds, immediately suggesting a mechanism for genetic replication where each strand could serve as a template for its complement. The accompanying papers by Wilkins, Stokes, and Wilson, and by Franklin and Gosling, provided essential experimental validation through X-ray diffraction analysis, creating a unified presentation of both theoretical insight and empirical evidence that established the foundation of molecular biology. The contentious history surrounding this discovery has generated enduring scholarly debate, particularly regarding the systematic marginalization of Rosalind Franklin's contributions. Franklin's meticulous X-ray crystallographic work, conducted with her graduate student Raymond Gosling, had independently determined many key structural features including the antiparallel orientation of DNA strands, the external positioning of phosphate groups, and precise helical parameters. Her famous "Photograph 51" provided definitive evidence of DNA's helical structure, while her systematic analysis of A-form and B-form DNA revealed critical dimensions that enabled Watson and Crick's model construction. As Brenda Maddox documents in "Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA," Franklin's data was shown to Watson and Crick without her knowledge through Maurice Wilkins, creating an ethical controversy that persists in discussions of scientific collaboration and gender bias. Franklin's death from ovarian cancer in 1958, four years before the Nobel Prize was awarded to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins, has intensified debates about recognition and the complex dynamics of mid-twentieth century scientific discovery, with many scholars arguing that her rigorous experimental approach was as fundamental to the breakthrough as the theoretical modeling that received greater acclaim. This publication represents the founding document of modern molecular biology, establishing the conceptual framework for understanding heredity, genetic replication, and the molecular basis of life itself. The discovery immediately suggested mechanisms for protein synthesis and genetic information transfer, creating the theoretical foundation for subsequent developments in genetic engineering, biotechnology, and genomic medicine. As Francis Crick later observed, the structure's elegant simplicitywith its complementary base pairing and antiparallel strandsprovided not merely a static model but a dynamic mechanism explaining how genetic information could be accurately copied and transmitted across generations. The offprint's scientific significance extends far beyond its immediate discovery, representing the moment when biology transformed from a primarily descriptive science into a molecular discipline capable of manipu.

Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. THE DISCOVERY OF THE STRUCTURE OF DNA, the cornerstone event in modern genetics and biology and one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. Signed by Francis Crick. This is the original announcement of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. It is accompanied by two important related papers on DNA, one by Wilkins, Stokes and Wilson, the other by Franklin and Gosling. In 1962 Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize for medicine. It is very unusual to see this great paper in original state, as most of those that survive are now in bound volumes. Watson and Crick conclude the first paper with a classic understatement: The structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest. . . . It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material. In 1962 Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize for medicine. Offprint from: Nature 171, no. 4356 (April 25, 1953), 737-38. Original wrappers. Some foxing. Very good. Signed by Author(s).

First edition. DISCOVERY OF THE STRUCTURE OF DNA. First edition, in the rare offprint form, of one of the most important scientific papers of the twentieth century, which "records the discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the main component of chromosomes and the material that transfers genetic characteristics in all life forms. Publication of this paper initiated the science of molecular biology. Forty years after Watson and Crick's discovery, so much of the basic understanding of medicine and disease has advanced to the molecular level that their paper may be considered the most significant single contribution to biology and medicine in the twentieth century" (One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, p. 362). "The discovery in 1953 of the double helix, the twisted-ladder structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), by James Watson and Francis Crick marked a milestone in the history of science and gave rise to modern molecular biology, which is largely concerned with understanding how genes control the chemical processes within cells. In short order, their discovery yielded ground-breaking insights into the genetic code and protein synthesis. During the 1970s and 1980s, it helped to produce new and powerful scientific techniques, specifically recombinant DNA research, genetic engineering, rapid gene sequencing, and monoclonal antibodies, techniques on which today's multi-billion dollar biotechnology industry is founded. Major current advances in science, namely genetic fingerprinting and modern forensics, the mapping of the human genome, and the promise, yet unfulfilled, of gene therapy, all have their origins in Watson and Crick's inspired work. The double helix has not only reshaped biology, it has become a cultural icon, represented in sculpture, visual art, jewelry, and toys" (Francis Crick Papers, National Library of Medicine, profiles./SC/Views/Exhibit/narrative/). In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material." In 1869, the Swiss physiological chemist Friedrich Miescher (1844-95) first identified what he called 'nuclein' inside the nuclei of human white blood cells. (The term 'nuclein' was later changed to 'nucleic acid' and eventually to 'deoxyribonucleic acid,' or 'DNA.') Miescher's plan was to isolate and characterize not the nuclein (which nobody at that time realized existed) but instead the protein components of leukocytes (white blood cells). Miescher thus made arrangements for a local surgical clinic to send him used, pus-coated patient bandages; once he received the bandages, he planned to wash them, filter out the leukocytes, and extract and identify the various proteins within the white blood cells. But when he came across a substance from the cell nuclei that had chemical properties unlike any protein, including a much higher phosphorous content and resistance to proteolysis (protein digestion), Miescher realized that he had discovered a new substance. Sensing the importance of his findings, Miescher wrote, "It seems probable to me that a whole family of such slightly varying phosphorous-containing substances will appear, as a group of nucleins, equivalent to proteins". But Miescher's discovery of nucleic acids was not appreciated by the scientific community, and his name had fallen into obscurity by the 20th century. "Researchers working on DNA in the early 1950s used the term 'gene' to mean the smallest unit of genetic information, but they did not know what a gene actually looked like structurally and chemically, or how it was copied, with very few errors, generation after generation. In 1944, Oswald Avery had shown that DNA was the 'transforming principle,' the carrier of hereditary information, in pneumococcal bacteria. Nevertheless, many scientists continued to believe that DNA had a structure too uniform and simple.

First edition, the three-paper offprint issue, of the primary record of the co-discovery of the molecular structure of DNA. This copy is from the library of Professor Hans Gustav Boman (1924-2008), the leading molecular biologist in Sweden; his signature is in ink on the first page. Three research groups independently investigated the structure of DNA in England in the early 1950s: Francis Crick and James Watson at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and two teams at King's College, London comprising Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin, Raymond Gosling, Alec Stokes, and Herbert Wilson. To acknowledge the simultaneity of the discovery, the directors of the respective institutions agreed that the three resulting papers would be published under the general title Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids in the British scientific weekly Nature. Crick and Watson's paper, "A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid", is illustrated with a schematic drawing by Odile Crick of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA, now famously known as the double helix. Wilkins, Stokes, and Wilson co-wrote "Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids", the second paper. Franklin and her research student Gosling submitted "Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate", which features a half-tone illustration of Gosling's iconic X-ray "Photograph 51" of crystallized DNA. Franklin died four years before the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Crick, Watson, and Wilkins in 1962 for their work on DNA, but without question her "contributions, and indeed her actual X-ray data, were crucial to the total achievement" (ODNB). "Two offprints exist of Watson and Crick's paper: a single sheet containing the Watson and Crick article only, and a fourteen-page pamphlet containing the papers of all three research groups. The pamphlet pages are smaller in size than the single leaf, which has the same dimensions as the leaves of the journal, and the layout is different, the single-leaf offprint being printed in two columns like the journal, the pamphlet in single-column pages. The page breaks are different in each of the two offprints and the journal, as is the placement of the illustrations relative to the text. Despite these differences, all three versions appear to have been printed from the same setting of type, except that in the two offprints one paragraph of text has been reset to accommodate the placement of the diagram of the DNA molecule" (Grolier, p. 363). Haskell F. Norman discusses the difficulty in establishing priority between the two formats in his introduction to One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine and closes by stating that "it is now our tentative conclusion that the three-paper offprint is the first issue" (p. xxi). Boman "was one of the pioneers in the field of molecular biology in Sweden" (Norrby, p. 11). After teaching at Uppsala University he transferred to Umeċ University to establish their microbiology department; under his leadership it became an international hub of research excellence. "Halfway through his career Boman moved on to Stockholm University and initiated a completely new line of research. It pioneered the development of insights into the emerging field of natural immunity. He developed this work in collaboration with Swedish colleagues and coined the term cecropines for this new kind of peptide antibiotics. This was a Nobel-class discovery" but - like Franklin - Boman died before he could see his research recognized as such (Norrby, p. 11). In 2011, his work formed the basis of a discovery by Jules Hoffman and Bruce Beutler, for which they received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Garrison-Morton 256.3 (Crick and Watson's paper); Grolier, One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, 99; Heirs of Hippocrates 2342. Erling Norrby, Nobel Prizes: Cancer, Vision and the Genetic Code, 2019. Octavo, pp. 14. With 4 illustrations. Printed pamphlet, wire-stitched as issued. A few neat red pencil marks to first three pages, lower outer corners creased: a near-fine copy.

First edition. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY. First edition, in the form in which it first appeared, of one of the most important scientific papers of the twentieth century, which "records the discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the main component of chromosomes and the material that transfers genetic characteristics in all life forms. Publication of this paper initiated the science of molecular biology. Forty years after Watson and Crick's discovery, so much of the basic understanding of medicine and disease has advanced to the molecular level that their paper may be considered the most significant single contribution to biology and medicine in the twentieth century" (One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, p. 362). The paper ended with one of the most famous understatements in the history of science: "It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material." The double helix describing the molecular structure of DNA has not only reshaped biology, it has become a cultural icon, represented in sculpture, visual art, jewellery, and toys. In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material" (Franklin had died in 1958 and so was not eligible for the prize). This journal issue is actually much rarer at auction than the offprint. DNA was first isolated by the Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher in 1869, and over the succeeding years many researchers investigated its structure and function, with some arguing that it may be involved in genetic inheritance. In 1944 Oswald Avery, Maclyn McCarty, and Colin MacLeod published a paper showing how genes are composed of DNA, and Erwin Chargaff would observe that DNA contained equal amounts of adenine to thymine and of cytosine to guanine. But no one knew what it looked like or how it was copied. By the early 1950s this had become one of the most important questions in biology. After moving to King's College, London in 1947, Maurice Wilkins began research on the structure of DNA. In January 1951, Rosalind Franklin also moved to King's. Both worked on the structure of nucleic acids, but they clashed and one could not abide the other. Also working in King's were Alec Stokes and Bruce Fraser. By July 1951, Stokes had convincing mathematical evidence that DNA had a helical structure. In November 1951, Fraser built a model that turned out to have all the key elements correct-a helical shape, phosphates on the outside, and stacked bases separated by a distance of 3.4 angstroms-except for the number of chains. This research was completed before Watson began working with Crick. But neither Stokes nor Fraser published their findings. Having no one to talk to about his work, Wilkins discussed his frustrations-and research findings-with an old friend, Francis Crick, working at Cambridge University. Crick had a junior collaborator, James Watson, and the two had a warm and buoyant relationship in contrast to the antipathy between Franklin and Wilkins. Crick and Watson began their own investigation at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, in 1952, focusing on building molecular models. After one failed attempt in which they postulated a triple-helix structure, they were banned by the Cavendish from spending any additional time on the subject. On January 30, 1953, Watson visited King's. Without Franklin's permission, Wilkins showed her data to Watson-in particular, an X-ray crystallograph (of May 1952), the famous 'Photo 51' (which is reproduced in the third paper), that provided unquestionable evidence of the helical structure of DNA. The photograph struck Watson with the force of revelation. He sketched the pattern on the margin of his newspaper, and brought it back to Crick. Within four w.

A VERY FINE SET OF THE DNA PAPERS. First edition, in the form in which they first appeared, of six crucial papers documenting the discovery of the structure of DNA and the mechanism of the genetic code. The first is Watson & Crick's paper 'Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid', which "records the discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the main component of chromosomes and the material that transfers genetic characteristics in all life forms. Publication of this paper initiated the science of molecular biology. Forty years after Watson and Crick's discovery, so much of the basic understanding of medicine and disease has advanced to the molecular level that their paper may be considered the most significant single contribution to biology and medicine in the twentieth century" (One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, p. 362). Watson & Crick's paper is here accompanied by their paper published one month later, 'Genetical Implications of the Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid,' "in which they elaborated on their proposed DNA replication mechanism" (ibid.), together with one of the papers which provided the experimental data confirming their proposed structure, a follow up to 'Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids' by Wilkins et al. Also included is the 1961 paper 'General Nature of the Genetic Code for Proteins,' documenting Crick's team's efforts to crack the genetic code, amassing evidence suggesting that "the amino-acid sequence along the polypeptide chain of a protein is determined by the sequence of the bases along some particular part of the nucleic acid of the genetic material" (p. 1227), and that each acid was most likely coded by a group of three bases. In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material." The first three papers were issued together in offprint from, but the journal issue offered here preceded the offprint and is actually rarer on the market. DNA was first isolated by the Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher in 1869, and over the succeeding years many researchers investigated its structure and function, with some arguing that it may be involved in genetic inheritance. By the early 1950s this had become one of the most important questions in biology. Maurice Wilkins of King's College London and his colleague Rosalind Franklin were both working on DNA, with Franklin producing X-ray diffraction images of its structure. Wilkins also introduced his friend Francis Crick to the subject, and Crick and his partner James Watson began their own investigation at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, focusing on building molecular models. After one failed attempt in which they postulated a triple-helix structure, they were banned by the Cavendish from spending any additional time on the subject. But a year later, after seeing new X-ray diffraction images taken by Franklin (notably the famous 'Photo 51', which is reproduced in the third offered paper), they resumed their work and soon announced that not only had they discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, but even more importantly, that "the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material." When Watson and Crick's paper was submitted for publication in Nature, Sir Lawrence Bragg, the director of the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, and Sir John Randall of King's College agreed that the paper should be published simultaneously with those of two other groups of researches who had also prepared important papers on DNA: Maurice Wilkins, A.R. Stokes, and H.R. Wilson, authors of 'Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids,' and Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, who submitted the paper 'Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate.' The three.

Nature 1953. 8vo. 2 vols. Contemporary red morocco backed buckram, gilt lettering to spine; vols 171 and 172 of the journal Nature, covering 1953; diagrams and illustrations; very good.First editions of the first papers on the ground-breaking discovery of the structure of DNA, comprising: "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid", in Nature Vol.171, No. 4356, pp.737-738, 25th April, 1953 [and] Wilkins, Maurice H.F., A.R. Stokes and H.R. Wilson. "Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids", in Nature Vol.171, No. 4356, pp.738-740, 25th April, 1953 [and] Franklin (Rosalind E.) and R.G. Gosling. "Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate", in Nature Vol.171, No. 4356, pp.740-741, 25th April, 1953 [and] Watson (James D.) & Francis Crick. "Genetic Implications of the Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid", in Nature Vol.171, No. 4361, pp.964-967, 30th May, 1953 [and] Wilkins (M. H. F.), W. E. Seeds, A. R. Stokes and H. R. Wilson. "Helical Structure of Crystalline Deoxypentose Nucleic Acid", in Nature, vol.172, No. 4382, pp.759-762, 24th October, 1953.These papers record the greatest biological advance of the twentieth century, a discovery which won Crick, Watson and Wilkins the Nobel Prize.