Francis Crick

Francis Harry Compton Crick (born the June 8th 1916 with Northampton in England and it is deceased the July 28th 2004 at the hospital of the University of San Diego in California) was a British biologist.

It received with James Watson and Maurice Wilkins the Nobel Prize of medicine in 1962 for the discovery of the structure of DNA, as well as the Medal Copley in 1975.

Biography

Born in a family from shoe-makers. He studies the Physique with the University College London and obtains a diploma in sciences in 1937.

At the time of the Second world war, it is built-in as of 1939 and works on the magnetic underwater mines and acoustics on behalf of the Royal Navy British. At the end of the war, it is interested in the Biologie and the Chimie.

In 1951, it starts to work with American James D. Watson with the Cavendish Laboratory of the Université of Cambridge in England and is focused full-time on the decoding of the structure of molecule DNA, already identified by the biologists like starting key for the comprehension of the genetics.

By basing on the crystallographic analyzes with the X-rays of Franklin Rosalind, on specific competences in genetics and of biological processes of Crick and in crystallography of Watson, they propose the structure in double helix of the molecule of DNA (acid desoxyribonucleic), published on April 25th 1953 in the review Nature.

The structure of the molecule in double helix which is the DNA gave to the world the key to include/understand all the secrecies of the alive one: all the life on ground exists only thanks to this omnipresent DNA, of the smallest bacterium to the man. This discovery is worth the to him Nobel Prize of medicine in 1962 like with James Watson and the British of New Zealand origin Maurice Wilkins of which work was used as a basis.

Whereas many scientific teams dig the head to try the reading of the molecule, in the absence of microscope rather powerful, Crick and Watson discover that while making crystallize the molecule, by subjecting it to beams of x-rays and by studying the various modes of diffraction of the rays, it is possible to reconstitute the shape of the molecule and to include/understand its operation.

Each bit of the molecule carries four chemical bases which face two to two: the Adénine with the Thymine, and the Cytosine with the Guanine. These four chemical bases shortened in has, T, C, and G, constitute the alphabet by which are written genes along chains of the DNA. They also explain why each bit of DNA is a double mirror of that which faces him, which makes it possible to explain how the DNA can be recopied and to reproduce. Crick and Watson thus start to study the deciphering of the DNA, which will be solved in 1966.

He is prize winner of the Royal Medal in 1972.

In 1973, it enters to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies of the Université of San Diego to make research in Neurosciences. It concentrated its efforts on the comprehension of the brain, and provided to the scientific community many ideas and assumptions, and the experimental demonstration of the fixed transmission of image at 50 Hertz by the retina with the brain, which is a fundamental contribution for the future of the theories of visual perception.

In 1976, it accepts a post of professor with the Université of San Diego, and settles in the pretty town of La Jolla vis-a-vis the Pacific Ocean.

In 1995, it gives up its position of president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies for health reason.

It is deceased on July 28th, 2004 at the hospital of the University of San Diego in California, at the 88 years age, of the continuations of a Cancer of the colonist.

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