Unravelling the Double Helix: The Lost Heroes of DNA

by Gareth Williams

Overview

An insightful history of the first hundred years of DNA, Unraveling The Double Helix tells the story one of the greatest triumphs of modern science.

Unraveling the Double Helix covers the most colorful period in the history of DNA, from the discovery of "nuclein" in the late 1860s to the publication of James Watson's The Double Helix in 1968. These hundred years included the establishment of the Nobel Prize, antibiotics, x-ray crystallography, the atom bomb and two devastating world wars—events which are strung along the thread of DNA like beads on a necklace. The story of DNA is a saga packed with awful mistakes as well as brilliant science, with a wonderful cast of heroes and villains. Surprisingly, much of it is unfamiliar. The elucidation of the double helix was one of the most brilliant gems of twentieth century science, but some of the scientists who paved the way have been airbrushed out of history. James Watson and Francis Crick solved a magnificent mystery, but Gareth Williams shows that their contribution was the last few pieces of a gigantic jigsaw puzzle assembled over several decades.

The book is comprehensive in scope, covering the first century of the history of DNA in its entirety, including the eight decades that have been neglected by other authors. It also explores the personalities of the main players, the impact of their entanglement with DNA, and what unique qualities make great scientists tick.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643132150
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Pages:	504
Sales rank:	1,124,189
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Gareth Williams is Emeritus Professor and former Dean of Medicine at the University of Bristol. His previous books published in Britain are Angel of Death: The Story of Smallpox (shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize), Paralyzed with Fear: The Story of Polio, and A Monstrous Commotion. He is a past president of the Anglo­French Medical Society and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Angers.

Table of Contents

Timeline xiii

Who's Who xviii

Preface: Not another one xxvi

1 Rewind 1

2 In the beginning 9

3 Bag of worms 23

4 Gardening leave 36

5 Of grasshoppers and flies 52

6 Bausteine 69

7 A whirlwind from Russia 81

8 Crystal gazing 93

9 The sad demise of a promising candidate 109

10 Inventions and improvements 118

11 Movable type 131

12 Transformational research 143

13 Up North 154

14 Unholy Grails 168

15 Applications of science 184

16 Dreams of geneticists 199

17 Tidying up 215

18 Tipping points 233

19 Twists and turns 249

20 Meetings of minds 262

21 Team building 284

22 Whizz kid 299

23 Handicap race 313

24 Photo finish 327

25 Aftershocks 350

26 Retrospective 371

Glossary and Abbreviations 388

Notes 394

Bibliography 454

Acknowledgements 465

Illustration Credits 469

Index 472

Editorial Reviews

07/22/2019

With this history of how DNA’s role in cellular reproduction and inheritance was uncovered, Williams, emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Bristol, capably conveys the process of how scientific discoveries are made in general, including the false trails, dead ends, and recalcitrant colleagues along the way. He begins his story in 1868, relating how German physician Friedrich Miescher discovered “nuclein,” later renamed DNA, and shows the halting steps scientists took before conclusively determining in 1944 that the substance was central to the transmission of inherited characteristics. He also demonstrates how some, like American biochemist Alfred Mirsky, fought the idea that a molecule as simple as DNA could possibly be responsible for so complex an activity. Along the way, Williams relates how 19th-century Mendelian genetics were merged with 20th century advances in biochemistry, and concludes by recapping the race to discover the three-dimensional structure of DNA. His contention that British scientist Maurice Wilkins, who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for the discovery with James Watson and Francis Crick, treated his colleague Rosalind Franklin far more fairly than is usually portrayed, will be received with interest, if not necessarily agreement, by genetics buffs. For them, and popular science readers in general, this is a history well worth perusing. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 2019-07-08
A fine history of the first 85 years of DNA and the "stories of the people who became entangled with it and who were variously enthralled, seduced or infuriated."

Most readers have heard of James Watson and Francis Crick, but their 1953 discovery of the structure of DNA followed almost a century of biological research. Williams (Emeritus, Medicine/Univ. of Bristol; A Monstrous Commotion: The Mysteries of Loch Ness, 2016, etc.) begins by noting the significant work of 19th-century Swiss physicist Friedrich Miescher that laid the foundation. Although his isolation of nuclein (nucleic acids) was significant, no one realized that it was earth-shaking. Living cells teem with proteins, which are complex molecules. At this time, no one knew how heredity worked. Gregor Mendel's basic rules of genetics, announced in the 1860s, remained unnoticed. It wasn't until 1875 that German biologist Oscar Hertwig first saw a single sperm penetrate an egg and fuse with the nucleus, which then began to divide. Brilliant, obsessive men (and the occasional woman) march through the narrative. Genes and chromosomes make their appearances after 1900. Then X-ray crystallography, the key to deciphering atomic structure, explodes onto the scene. In the 1930s, studies hinting that DNA figured in heredity made little impression. In 1944, proof from Oswald Avery's lab did not achieve iconic status for another decade, when others confirmed it and Watson and Crick worked their magic. Williams' steady stream of biographies includes plenty of key figures unknown, he admits, even to him. They made significant discoveries (or barely missed) that helped to clarify the mechanism of heredity. There is no shortage of villains, tragedies, and missed opportunities, but readers will take comfort in knowing that it turns out well. They will enjoy lucid, opinionated writing and the useful (often neglected) who's who and timeline at the beginning and generous glossary at the end.

A superb chronicle of a scientific struggle with a happy ending.

Kirkus Reviews