Man who helped unlock DNA dies

Francis Crick, who helped discover the double helix shape of DNA along with
James Watson, has died aged 88.

Professor Crick died at Thornton Hospital in San Diego, US, where he had
been battling colon cancer.

The British-born scientist won the Nobel Prize for his work on DNA's
structure, which he helped model in 1953 at the University of Cambridge.

"I will always remember Francis for his extraordinarily focused
intelligence," Professor Watson said on Thursday.

"He treated me as though I were a member of his family. Being with him for
two years in a small room in Cambridge was truly a privilege," he continued.

"I always looked forward to being with him and speaking to him, up until the
moment of his death. He will be sorely missed."

Nobel prize

Professor Crick was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1959, three years
before he was awarded a Nobel prize. Primarily this was for his work on DNA,
but also for his study of the structure of proteins and viruses.

Commenting on his death, Lord May of Oxford, the President of the Royal
Society, said: "We are all greatly saddened to learn of the death today of
Francis Crick, who was known worldwide for his contribution to discovering
the structure of DNA, which earned him a share of a Nobel prize in 1962."

Research undertaken by Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin paved the way
for Francis Crick and James Watson's famous discovery.

Professor's Crick's death comes one year after the 50th anniversary of the
discovery of the structure of DNA.

"Just last year we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication
in the journal 'Nature' of his landmark scientific paper, written with James
Watson, which described the correct double helix structure of DNA for the
first time," said Lord May.

Unassuming words

It is now one of the most famous scientific papers of all time, but began
with an unassuming pair of sentences: "We wish to suggest a structure for
the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA). This structure has novel
features which are of considerable biological interest."

Lord May continued: "Francis Crick made an enormous contribution to science
and his discoveries helped to usher in a golden age of molecular biology.

"His death is a sad loss to science and our thoughts are with his family and
colleagues."

  I will always remember Francis for his extraordinarily focused
intelligence

James Watson
Professor Crick was born in Northampton in the UK but had been living in La
Jolla, California, US. He was a distinguished research professor and former
president of the Salk Institute in San Diego.

"Francis Crick will be remembered as one of the most brilliant and
influential scientists of all time," said Richard Murphy, the Salk
Institute's president and chief executive officer.

Dr Matt Ridley, author of Genome and Nature Vs Nurture said: "Francis Crick
made not one but many great scientific discoveries.

"He found that genes are digital codes written on DNA molecules, he found
that the code is written in three-letter words and he was instrumental in
cracking the code.

"Any one of those things would have got him into the scientific pantheon.
Discovering all three places him alongside Newton, Darwin and Einstein."

>From the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3937475.stm

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