Biomics

DNA is undoubtedly the most important biological macromolecule and its initial discovery in the form of a phosphorus-rich compound made by the young Swiss biochemist F.Miescher 150 years ago in nuclei of white blood cells of pus and called nuclein, as well as the discovery of its spatial structure in the form of a double helix by the efforts of J.Watson and F. Crick are the most important events in the biological science of the past and the centuries before. This historical article describes the little-known moments that accompanied both of these discoveries.

DNA, nuclein, double helix, F. Miescher, J.D. Watson, F.H.C. Crick

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2. Belozersky A. N., Abelev G. I. K voprosu ob edinstve himicheskoj struktury jadernogo materiala rastitel'nyh i zhivotnyh kletok // Mosk. un-ta. (Ser. fiz.-mat. i estestv. nauk). 1955. № 9. Vyp. 6. S. 103-108. [On the question of the unity of the chemical structure of the nuclear material of plant and animal cells] (In Russian)
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4. Spirin A.S. (red.) Fridrih Misher. Trudy po biohimii. M. 1985. 318 s. [Friedrich Miescher. Works on biochemistry] (In Russian)
5. Altmann R. Über Nucleinsäuren. Archiv für Anatomie und Physiologie. 1889. V. 5-6. P. 524–536.
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7. Astbury W.T., Bell F.O. X-Ray study of thymonucleic acid. 1938. V. 141. P.747–748. doi:10.1038/141747b0
8. Avery O.T., MacLeod C.M., McCarty M. 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. Exp. Med. 1944. V.79(2). P.137–158. DOI: 10.1084/jem.79.2.137
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10. Creeth J.M., Gulland J.M. and Jordan D.O. Deoxypentose nucleic acids, part III. Viscosity and streaming birefringence of solutions of the sodium salt of the deoxypentose nucleic acid of calf thymus. Chem. Soc. 1947. V.214. P. 1141–1145. DOI: 10.1039/jr9470001141
11. Davidson J.N., Waymouth C. Tissue Nucleic Acids. 1. Ribonucleic acids and nucleotides in embryonic and adult tissue. J. 1944. V.38(1). P.39-50. DOI: 10.1042/bj0380039
12. Davidson J.N., Leslie I. Nucleic Acids in the Development of the Chick Embryo: Changes in Ribonucleic Acid Phosphorus (RNAP) and Deoxyribonucleic Acid Phosphorus (DNAP) in Heart and Liver. Biochem J. 1948. V.43(2). xxviii. doi; 10.1042/bj0430xix
13. Franklin R.E., Gosling R.G. Molecular configuration in sodium thymonucleate. Nature. 1953. V.171(4356). P.740-741. DOI: 10.1038/171740a0
14. Furberg S. On the structure of nucleic acids // Acta Chemica Scandinavica. 1952. V.6. P.634-640.
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16. Hoogsteen, K. The crystal and molecular structure of a hydrogen-bonded complex between 1-methylthymine and 9-methyladenine. Acta Cryst. 1963. V. 16. 907-915. doi: 0.1107/S0365110X63002437
17. Hoogsteen, K. The structure of crystals containing a hydrogen-bonded complex of 1-methylthymine and 9-methyladenine. Acta Cryst. V. 12. P. 822-823. doi:.10.1107/S0365110X59002389
18. Miescher F. Ueber die chemische Zusammensetzung der Eiterzellen. Medicinisch-chemische Untersuchungen. 1871. V.4. P. 441–460.
19. Nikolova E.N., Kim E., Wise A.A., O'Brien P.J., Andricioaei I., Al-Hashimi H.M. Transient Hoogsteen base pairs in canonical duplex DNA. Nature. V.470(7335). P.498-502. doi: 10.1038/nature09775
20. Pauling L., CoreyB. Specific hydrogen-bond formation between pyrimidines and purines in deoxyribonucleic acids. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 1956. V. 65(1). P. 164-181. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(56)90185-0
21. Signer R., Caspersson T., Hammarsten E. Molecular shape of thymonucleic acid. Nature. 1938. V. 141. P.122. doi:10.1038/141122a0
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26. Watson J.D., Crick F.H.C. Genetic implication of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid. Nature. 1953a. V. 171(4361). P. 964-967. doi:10.1038/171964b0
27. Watson J.D., Crick F.H. The structure of DNA. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. Quant. Biol. 1953b. V.18. P.123-131. DOI: 10.1101/sqb.1953.018.01.020
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29. Williams G. Unravelling the Double Helix: The Lost Heroes of DNA. Wiedeneld & Nicolson. London. 2019. 494 P.
30. Witkowski J. The forgotten scientists who paved the way to the double helix. 2019. V. 568. P.308–309. doi: 10.1038/d41586-019-01176-9