Hall, K (2011) William Astbury and the biological significance of nucleic acids, 1938–1951. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 42 (2). pp. 119-128. ISSN 1369-8486
Abstract
Famously, James Watson credited the discovery of the double-helical structure of DNA in 1953 to an X-ray diffraction photograph taken by Rosalind Franklin. Historians of molecular biology have long puzzled over a remarkably similar photograph taken two years earlier by the physicist and pioneer of protein structure William T. Astbury. They have suggested that Astbury’s failure to capitalize on the photograph to solve DNA’s structure was due either to his being too much of a physicist, with too little interest in or knowledge of biology, or to his being misled by an erroneous theoretical model of the gene. Drawing on previously unpublished archival sources, this paper offers a new analysis of Astbury’s relationship to the problem of DNA’s structure, emphasizing a previously overlooked element in Astbury’s thinking: his concept of biological specificity.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | Astbury; X-ray crystallography; Molecular biology; DNA |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 16 May 2019 10:59 |
Last Modified: | 16 May 2019 10:59 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.shpsc.2010.11.018 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:140560 |