Double take
"I am now astonished that I began work on the triple helix structure, rather than on the double helix," wrote Linus Pauling in the April 26, 1974 issue of Nature. In February 1953, Pauling proposed a triple helix structure for DNA in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). He had been working with only a few blurry X-ray crystallographic images from the 1930s and one from 1947. If history's helix had turned slightly differently, however, perhaps the following timeline might b
Apr 24, 2003
"I am now astonished that I began work on the triple helix structure, rather than on the double helix," wrote Linus Pauling in the April 26, 1974 issue of
In February 1953, Pauling proposed a triple helix structure for DNA in the
August 15, 1952: Linus Pauling (finally allowed to travel to England by a US State Department that thinks the words "chemist" and "communist" are too close for comfort) visits King's College London and sees Rosalind Franklin's X-ray crystallographs. He immediately rules out a triple helical structure for DNA and concentrates on determining the nature of what is undoubtedly...
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