Lin Hei Long (3035187144) Group 4 Tutorial Group 2P

Individual Assignment
The contribution of James Watson & Francis Crick is tremendous.
They discovered the double helix structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid
(DNA), which is widely accepted as the first correct model of DNA.
Although some minor adjustments were made to the Watson & Crick
model, the model's four major features have been remaining the
same since its inception in 1953 (Pray, 2008).

The four major features of the model formed the basic of modern
molecular genetics. For instance, the model revealed that the
double helix of DNA is maintained by breakable hydrogen bonds
between nitrogenous bases. It speeded up the discovery of the
mechanism of DNA replication, which helped us to know how
genetic information pass to offspring. Moreover, thanks to the
discovery of 5-3 linkage, together with the complementary base
pairing rule revealed by Erwin Chargaff in 1950, the genetic code
was deciphered through DNA sequencing, led to invention of
recombinant DNA technology (Baumann, 2014).

Besides, Oswald Averys contribution cannot go unnoticed. He found

that DNA is the transforming factor which is able to induce a genetic
change on harmless R-strain Pneumococcus to become lethal. With
this evidence, the complex sugar DNA was proved to be the genetic
information carrier in most types of organisms. It was a huge
breakthrough in genetics since protein was regarded as the
hereditary substance before his research. After that, scientists had
located a clearer vision on what should they investigate to study
genetics, led to an accelerated development of modern
biotechnology.

Although there was no any direct academic relationship between

Oswald Avery and James Watson & Francis Crick, Averys research
catalyzed the invention of the Watson & Crick model. Since Nucleic
acid was found to be the correct genetic information carrier in
organisms by Oswald Avery, it drove James Watson & Francis Crick
to look into the structure and composition of DNA. Therefore, it
could be interpreted that without the explicit direction provided by
Averys research, James Watson & Francis Crick might not be able to
achieve the revelation of the structure and composition of the true
hereditary substance, DNA.
345 words

Reference:
Pray, L. (2008) Discovery of DNA structure and function: Watson and
Crick. Nature Education 1(1):100. Retrieved from:
http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/discovery-of-dna-
Lin Hei Long (3035187144) Group 4 Tutorial Group 2P

structure-and-function-watson-397
Baumann, B. (2014). DNA from Watson and Crick to modern
molecular biology. Biotechnology and Life Sciences in Baden-
Wrttemberg. Retrieved from:
http://www.bio-pro.de/magazin/index.html?
lang=en&artikelid=/artikel/09725/index.html