Why were Watson and Crick able to make their discoveries?

Why were Watson and Crick able to make their discoveries?

1. Government

   • The research carried out by Watson and Crick was enormously expensive due to the complex equipment and large number of highly skilled individuals involved.
     • Most of their funding came from the British government.

2. Individual Genius

   • James Watson was an extremely intelligent man.
     • He had been offered a scholarship to study at the University of Chicago at the age of only fifteen.
   • Both Watson and Crick were extremely creative in their thinking compared to other scientists of the time.
     • For example, no one else that saw Franklin's photograph was initially able to work out the double helix shape of DNA. It was only Watson and Crick who were able to see this, after which it became obvious to others.
   • The definitive proof of the double helix structure of DNA came from an X-ray photograph taken by Rosalind Franklin, known as Photo 51.
     • Neither Watson nor Crick had the expertise to capture this image themselves and until they found Franklin's picture their research had stalled.

3. Science and Technology

   • Watson and Crick drew heavily on almost a century of previous scientific research into DNA to make their discoveries.
     • This included work by people like Friedrich Miescher, Albrecht Kossel, Phoebus Levene, William Astbury, Nikolai Koltsov, Frederick Griffith and Oswald Avery.
   • Watson and Crick relied on extremely modern technology, such as X-ray photography and high powered microscopes, to gather the data needed to make their discovery.
   • Watson and Crick relied on data collected a number of other scientists who were experts in X ray photography, including Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling.

4. Teamwork

   • Watson and Crick were known to have spent many hours developing their ideas about the structure of DNA through lengthy discussion with each other.
     • Neither man had made any significant discovery before they began working together.
   • When Watson and Crick published their findings in the journal Nature in 1953, their ideas were supported by no less ' than five other articles, which all verified their findings.
     • This helped to lend credibility to their findings.
   • Watson and Crick drew heavily on almost a century of previous scientific research into DNA to make their discoveries.
     • This included work by people like Friedrich Miescher, Albrecht Kossel, Phoebus Levene, William Astbury, Nikolai Koltsov, Frederick Griffith and Oswald Avery.
   • Watson and Crick relied on data collected a number of other scientists who were experts in X ray photography, including Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling.
   • The definitive proof of the double helix structure of DNA came from an X-ray photograph taken by Rosalind Franklin, known as Photo 51.
     • Neither Watson nor Crick had the expertise to capture this image themselves and until they found Franklin's picture their research had stalled.