The Discovery of Double Helix - Book Report/Review Example

 The Discovery of Double Helix Science is a constellation facts gathered to form aggregate knowledge. It is farther understood as the systematic activities that build and construct knowledge in the various form of testable explanations and predictions of phenomenon in the universe. The scientific discovery is one of the major achievements in human history that contributes to the formation of new knowledge. It involves thorough and rigorous activities that are done in order to arrive at the desired result. The investigation involves the collection of data and analysis of data in order to get the accurate result which forms the basis of new knowledge. The physical sciences interrelate with each other and may burrow some concept for example in Chemistry and Biology. There is some biological invention that was informed by the Chemistry knowledge in the two researchers disagreed on the mode of communications. The invention and discovery of DNA by Watson and Crick has no difference as from the above argument. This paper is an attempt of reflection of the double helix discovery and its contributions in the scientific inquiries. Biology as a discipline that studies animals and plant have on record the history of the discovery of DNA double helix structure. The work is attributed to Watson and Crick whose work depended on the data gathered by Rosalind Franklin. Movie Script Double Helix By James Watson Based on Rosalind Franklin photo 51 experiment The narrator: The Second World War culminated with the discovery of secret atoms leading to death destruction. A new race began to discover the secret of life. It is May 1952 whether scientists gathered at Royal Society in the London laboratory where they take x ray camera to expose DNA. This photo is when developed will reveal the structure of DNA a blue print on how all the life are passed on earth from one generation to another The most determined detectives of DNA are Francis Crick and James Watson. Another one crucial and responsible for the x-ray photo is Rosalind Franklin 31yearr old. Franklin’s work pave the way as without her knowledge Watson and Crick gain access to her findings and the x ray image of the DNA. It is the foundation of one of the most discoveries in science and the greatest injustice ever. What fallow next is the Rosalind Franklin secret photo 51. Narrator: In 1962, the three scientist Watson ,Crick and Wilkins were awarded Noble Prize for their ground bearing invention of DNA which is considered as one of the greatest achievement n history and unlock the secrets of After sometime later James Watson published his personal account on the discovery of the double helix. The book is The Double Helix and introduces very little on Rosalind Franklin DNA Discovery The original thinker of the model that was used in the discovery process was Rosalind Frank. A chemist by profession she discovered the photo 51 that provided crucial information to derive the model of DNA. The photo 51 showed the diffraction pattern which could be used the basis of her discoveries. The famous image of DNA model using x ray techniques that did not require sample to be crystal.DNA are big molecules that does not form crystal prefers the form of organized fibers. The diffraction pattern determined the helical nature of the double strand that is anti-parallel. She figured out two forms of DNA which made solving the whole structure possible. The backbone of A form is ant parallel B form which is antiparalel. In the experiment that she carried in the laboratory she had the idea of base pairing of hydrogen bonding (Watson 22). The photo 51 was the source of data to Watson and Crick that used the model developed by Rosalind in Chemistry and used it in biology. The image gave the two scientists Wartson and Crick some pieces of information that help in the discovery of the structure of the double helix of the DNA. Seeing the photo, Wartson and Crick realized that DNA must have double helix structures. The two structures are anti-parallel to each other. This photo51 was made by Rosalind and then Maurice a colleague leaked the information to Wartson and Crick without her permission or knowledge about the picture. The tension amounted as a result of using her information without acknowledgement. It was this disagreement during the discovery of the DNA why the book by Watson Double Helix was delayed to be published (watson1980). It is a requirement in the scientific discovery to acknowledge other people’s work and failure to do so the discovery is disqualified based on standard ethics that are followed. The method that was used get the information was not clear because the information was given to them by another scientist. Watson and Crick used the characteristic and the features of photo 51 to develop chemical model of DNA molecules. In the outside, the DNA chain has a backbone of alternating deoxyribose and phosphate molecules. The codes of inheritance are inside the helixes that are double strand structures. The model also expressed the ant parallel that existed between the strand .The DNA are the secrets of life in which the gene are coded. The base pairing of the of the four basic element in which adenine pairs with thiamine while on the other hand guanine pairs with cytosine to form along double strand. Then idea of pairing was burrowed from the model where hydrogen was bonding to each other. The strand rotates in the opposite direction. Even though the work of Watson and Crick in the discovery of the double helix structure for has been refuted, it has formed the basis of a critical scientific discovery in the human history. The DNA is the building block of the protein build the body. The two researchers admitted that “I am afraid we always used to adopt … let’s say, a patronizing attitude towards her” (Wilkins 2003). From the quote is evident the research work was guided by Rosalind model on which these scientist burrow the ideas from. Watson and Crick suggested that molecules are made up of two chain of nucleotide in each helix. The same thing had been discovered by Rosalind in her research which other scientist adopted. The two chains run in the opposite direction, when one is going down, the other one is going up. Crick added to model so that matching base pair could interlock with each other in the middle of the double helix in order to keep the distance between the chains constant from top to bottom. In their work they showed that in each strand of the DNA molecules a template to the other. During the cell division the two strands separate on each strand a new other half is build just like the one before(Watson 1952) .The Dan formed can reproduced itself without changing is structure. This discovery has been considered as the most important biological work of the last ten decades since the field was opened. The discovery in the field of biology has been a motivating factor to other scholars who seem to have interest in the function of the DNA There has been a hot debate about the discovery of the DNA between and among scholars in biology. The method that was used to get data that supported the discovery was against the standards that have been set by the scientists. The discovery played a great role in the in the scientific inventions even though it has been critic sized by others that the founder did not follow the rules that govern science. The contribution of women in the scientific discoveries has been undermined by Watson and Crick. They adopted the model which was first proposed by Rosalind without her permission. Though the women have been undermined, their efforts are recognized in the scientific discoveries. It the model developed by the first woman that was used by other to help guide the process of discovery. In his book Double Helix Watson has honestly reported personal account of the scientific discovery in has been criticizes of personal views. In addition it is full of glorification and superstition to obtain data mysteriously. In giving personal account, he has been accused of reporting in a novel but not the history of event to be discovered. Farther more, the book contained scientific details that one could understand and make a comprehensive analyzed without difficulties as compared to other scientific discoveries, in which the scientists use difficult to comprehend. Watson could also develop him creativity and innovation on the movies that he watched and the games that he participated. The intellectual games, created a mind set in him that could motivate him towards the original of the genes and how they are transferred from one The discovery of DNA was first in history of the world identified by Miecher in 1871. In the later mid 20th century, the double helix structure of the DNA was then discovered by Watson and Crick using the model of Rosalind (Wilkins 68). The DNA of animal consists of two helical chains which are coiled around each other in the same axis. Usually the DNA does not exist as a single molecule but as a pair that are held tightly by hydrogen bond. The two long strands are intertwining each other to form double helix. The double helix could be explained diagrammatically in which the bases are attached to each other. The hydrogen bond strengthens the strand which runs parallel to each other. The building block of the DNA is the nucleotides. The discovery has been attractive to women. Women contributed a lot in the process of data collection. In the experiment the women contributed a lot. The contribution of women in the book attracted many women scholars as the book consider their role in scientific discoveries. In this context it was excessively possessed and skewed towards sexist of women. The participation of women in the science and the scientific discoveries gave the women more opportunity to explore and contribute in science. In conclusion, the DNA discovery has contributed a lot in the scientific discovery. The scientific discovery contributed a lot in analyzing the formation of DNA as a double helix structure which intertwined in each other to give a complete picture.. The collection of data by women and their participation is a clear picture of how women are committed in scientific world. Gene inheritance can be understood in from one generation to the other. The hot and strong argument that emanates from the discoveries is to create room for expansion in the future and make the scholar to think beyond their imaginations. Works Cited Watson, James. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA Norton Critical Edition Ed.). W.W. Norton and Company, 2007. Print. Secret of Photo 51. Nova . PBS. Wilkins, Wilkins. The Third Man of the Double Helix an autobiography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. Read More