MEPX
Chapter 6 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Before modern science
  2. 2The scientific revolution
  3. 3Chemistry and the elements
  4. 4Life sciences
  5. 5Modern physics
  6. 6The molecular era
  7. 7Computing and mathematics
  8. 8Astronomy and space
  9. 9Medicine and public health
  10. 10What the record shows

Chapter 6 of 10

The molecular era

From structure to code.

DNA

Watson and Crick published the double helix in 1953, drawing on Rosalind Franklin's diffraction images and Chargaff's base ratios. Franklin died before the prize was awarded.

  • Barbara McClintock discovered transposable elements decades before acceptance.
  • Sanger won two chemistry Nobels, for protein and DNA sequencing.

Editing genes

Doudna and Charpentier's work on CRISPR gene editing turned a bacterial defence system into a general tool, with ethical questions still unresolved.