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Secret of Photo 51

Picturing the Molecules of Life

 

Intro | 1952: Photo 51 | 1973: Transfer RNA |  1979: "Left-handed" DNA  | 1980: "Right-handed" DNA | 1984: Protein/DNA complex | 2001: Ribosome

Secret of Photo 51 homepage

'Left-handed' DNA

Rich used the same diffraction technique to get an image of a small piece of DNA (six base pairs) in 1979. The image confirmed Watson and Crick's proposed structure—except for one major difference. The photo showed that the helical structure bore a left-handed turn, while Watson and Crick's structure called for a right-handed turn. Rich's image thus threatened the validity of the 20th-century's most celebrated theoretical structure. Rich remembers a telephone conversation he had with Crick after looking over his results. "I told him that the structure was left-handed, and he was silent," he said. "Francis Crick is rarely silent."

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