From Miescher to Watson and Crick through many giants.

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DNADNAAn Short HistoryHistory

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Johann Friedrich Miescher
1844 -1895

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Johann Friedrich Miescher
1844 -1895
Tübingen
Castle

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Johann Friedrich Miescher
1844 -1895
1869: Characterizes a new
substance in puspus (June 15,
1866-August 23, 1866).
“… the substance was
derived from the nucleus of
the cell. Hence, we call it
nuclein.”

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Pál Plósz (1871) verified the presence of nuclein in the nucleated
erythrocytes of birds and reptiles and its absence from the
erythrocytes of mammals, which are devoid of a nucleus.

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1881:1881: (Ludwig Karl Martin(Ludwig Karl Martin
Leonhard)Leonhard)Albrecht KosselAlbrecht Kossel
determines that nucleic aciddetermines that nucleic acid
is composed of four bases.is composed of four bases.
Untersuchungen über die
Nukleine und ihre
Spaltungsprodukte
(Investigations into the
nucleins and their
cleavage products)
19101910

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1893: Albrecht Kossel1893: Albrecht Kossel
determines that nucleicdetermines that nucleic
acid is composed of fouracid is composed of four
bases.bases.
2 purines:2 purines: 2 pyrimidines:2 pyrimidines:
adenine (A)adenine (A) cytosine (C)cytosine (C)guanine (G)guanine (G) thymine (T)thymine (T)

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1889: Richard Altmann1889: Richard Altmann
finds that nuclein is acidicfinds that nuclein is acidic
and renames itand renames it nucleicnucleic
acidacid (nucleïnsäure).(nucleïnsäure).
Ueber Nucleinsäuren. Archiv für Anatomie und Physiologie.
Physiologische Abteilung. Leipzig, 1889, 524-536.

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Phoebus AaronPhoebus Aaron (Theodore)(Theodore) LeveneLevene
(1869-1940)(1869-1940)
1909: Phoebus Levene discovers1909: Phoebus Levene discovers
that DNA is made of 3 basicthat DNA is made of 3 basic
components: a sugar, an acid,components: a sugar, an acid,
and an organic base.and an organic base.

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Félix D’Herelle (1873-1949)
Research Topic:
Diarrhea in Grasshoppers
“... on opening the
incubator, I experienced
one of those moments of
intense emotion which
reward the researcher
for all his pains. The
broth, which the night
before had been very
turbid, was perfectly
clear. All the bacteria
had vanished.”
~1910

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Phoebus AaronPhoebus Aaron (Theodore)(Theodore) LeveneLevene
(1869-1940)(1869-1940)
1919: Phoebus Levene proposes1919: Phoebus Levene proposes
thethe “tetranucleotide” structure“tetranucleotide” structure
of DNA, whereby the four basesof DNA, whereby the four bases
are arranged one after another.are arranged one after another.

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1928: Frederick Griffith (with Bobby)1928: Frederick Griffith (with Bobby)
demonstrates thedemonstrates the “transforming“transforming
principle,” whereby a substance fromprinciple,” whereby a substance from
heat-killed bacteria can cause heritableheat-killed bacteria can cause heritable
changes in live bacteria.changes in live bacteria.
The bacterium Streptococcus
pneumoniae is the most common
cause of meningitis

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Nikolai W. Timoféeff-Ressovsky, Karl G. Zimmer, Max Delbrück.
1935. Über die Natur der Gennmutation und der Genstructur (On the
nature of gene mutation and gene structure). Nachrichten von der
Geselschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Neu Folge, Band 1,
13.№

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1938: Rudolf Signer, Torbjorn1938: Rudolf Signer, Torbjorn
Caspersson and Einer HammarstenCaspersson and Einer Hammarsten
find molecular weights for DNAfind molecular weights for DNA
between 500,000 and 1,000,000between 500,000 and 1,000,000
daltons. Levene’sdaltons. Levene’s “tetranucleotide”“tetranucleotide” isis
deemed to be adeemed to be a “polytetranucleotide.”“polytetranucleotide.”

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1944: Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty1944: Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty
establish that Griffith's transforming principle is DNA, and suggestestablish that Griffith's transforming principle is DNA, and suggest
that it may function as the genetic material.that it may function as the genetic material.
Avery, O. T., MacLeod, C. M. & McCarty, M. 1944. Studies of the chemical nature of the substance inducing
transformation of pneumococcal types. Induction of transformation by a desoxyribonucleic acid fraction isolated from
Pneumococcus Type III. J. Exp. Med. 79:137-158.

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Erwin Schrödinger. 1944. What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the
Living Cell. Cambridge University Press. pp. 194

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1949: Roger Vendrely, Colette Vendrely, and André Boivin find half as1949: Roger Vendrely, Colette Vendrely, and André Boivin find half as
much DNA in the nuclei of sex cells as they find in body cells, thusmuch DNA in the nuclei of sex cells as they find in body cells, thus
paralleling the reduction in the number of chromosomes, making DNAparalleling the reduction in the number of chromosomes, making DNA
look like the genetic material.look like the genetic material.

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1952: Alfred D. Hershey & Martha Chase1952: Alfred D. Hershey & Martha Chase
DNA isDNA is
thethe
geneticgenetic
materialmaterial

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Martha ChaseMartha Chase
Awarded a blenderAwarded a blender
(?)(?)
Alfred D. HersheyAlfred D. Hershey
Awarded the Nobel PrizeAwarded the Nobel Prize

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What is the
structure of
DNA?

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Linus Carl Pauling
1901-1994

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“We have formulated a structure for the nucleic
acids… The structure involves three
intertwined helical polynucleotide chains. Each
chain… has approximately twenty-four
nucleotide residues in seven turns of the helix.
The helixes form a right-handed screw. The
phosphate groups are closely packed about the
axis… with the pentose residues… and the
purine and pyrimidine groups projecting
radially...”
Linus Pauling & Robert B. Corey (Nature, 1953,
171:346).

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Pauling, L. and Corey, R. B. 1953. A proposed structure for
the nucleic acids Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 39:84-97.

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Erwin Chargaff
1950: The First Parity Rule
While DNA composition varies
among species, the following two
equalities are observed:
(1) A% T%≈
(2) G% C%≈
Chargaff’s values for humans:
G = 19.9%, C = 18.8%, A = 30.9%, and T = 29.4%
1

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Rosalind FranklinRosalind Franklin
X-ray diffraction of DNA
2
1951

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1958: DNA Becomes Art
Salvador Dalí. 1957-1958.
Butterfly Landscape, the Great
Masturbator in a Surrealist
Landscape with DNA, Oil on
canvas. Private collection
http://judgestarling.tumblr.com/po

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Charles Jencks. 2000. Spirals Time—Time Spirals, Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory

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