Question

The structure of DNA was essentially a side-project for Watson and Crick. What project was (or at least was supposed to be) the main focus for Watson. What was the main project for Crick

Answer 1

Answer:

In 1962, Crick, Watson and Wilkins jointly won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discoveries about the structure of the DNA molecule.  

Francis HC Crick was physics but in 1947 he moved to biology research when began to work at the University of Cambridge, in the field of X-ray crystallography of proteins, where obtained his PhD in 1954. Crick shared with Watson his interest in the structure of the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule.

In 1950, James D. Watson began to work in Copenhagen, by studying bacterial viruses. In Naples, he observed for the first time a crystalline X-ray diffraction pattern. In the next year, Luria and Kendrew helped Watson to go at the University of Cambridge. In the Cavendish Lab from this Univesity, he continued working with X-ray diffraction patterns and he met Francis Crick, who was also trying to decipher the molecular configuration of the DNA molecule.

In 1953, Crick's and Watson's could state that the DNA molecule had a double helix, twisted-ladder structure. By using their model, they also showed that the DNA could replicate itself. Also in 1953, both (Watson and Crick) published their discoveries in the prestigious Nature journal, with the famous title: "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid”