- Start
- Apr 25, 195390% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
Watson and Crick Publish the Structure of DNA
- Nature published Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid on 25 April 1953, pages 737-738 of volume 171[1][2]
- It was the first article to describe the double helix, using X-ray diffraction and the mathematics of a helix transform[2]
- The paper is brief and answers a fundamental question - how genetic instructions are held inside organisms and passed between generations - which surprised biologists who expected the answer to be harder to reach[2]
- The model itself was built at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge; parts of it, including the aluminium base templates, survive in the Science Museum in London[3]
References 385% CONFIDENCE
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- [1]90%nature.com/articles/171737a0nature.com· Posted Sep 22, 2026· Starts Apr 25, 1953 ✓· 33% of score
The issue itself carries the date: the paper was "published by Francis Crick and James D. Watson in the scientific journal Nature on pages 737-738 of its 171st volume (dated 25 April 1953)", and Nature's own page for the article gives the same issue date.
- [2]90%Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Aciden.wikipedia.org· Added Sep 22, 2026· 33% of score
Gives the journal, volume, pages and issue date, and describes the method - X-ray diffraction and the mathematics of a helix transform - and why the paper is called a "pearl" of science.[1]
- [3]75%Cavendish Laboratoryen.wikipedia.org· Added Sep 22, 2026· 33% of score
The Cambridge physics department where Watson and Crick built the model, and where this pin is placed; the old laboratory on Free School Lane.[1]
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Cavendish Laboratory