Cambridge - It's in your DNA

DNA is now known by most of the general public to carry genetic information, the instructions that a living organism needs to grow, reproduce and function.

The structure of DNA - a double helix twisted-ladder - was first realised by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 at the Cambridge University Cavendish Laboratory and gave rise to modern molecular biology; the contribution of Rosalind Franklin is now recognised as crucial to the discovery DNA structure, however, as her work in X-ray crystallography established that the molecule existed in a helical conformation. Their discovery is commemorated in several relevant places in Cambridge.

The first announcement was made by a jubilant Francis Crick as they walked into the nearest pub to their laboratory, The Eagle, and proclaimed that he and James Watson had "found the secret of life"; this lovely old pub has a fine courtyard as well as a ceiling covered covered with writing by Allied pilots who frequented it during WWII. There is a blue plaque outside it to commemorate the event (it has been recently defaced to mention Rosalind Franklin) and their old laboratory nearby also celebrates it.

Francis Crick lived in a house in Portugal Place and there is a double helix above the door to mark this. James Watson was an alumnus of Clare College, where he began his post-doctoral research in 1951 and became an honorary fellow in 1967, and there is an aluminium sculpture of the double helix close to an entrance there.

Further afield is the DNA cycle path, which runs from Addenbrooke's Hospital to Great Shelford; there is a double helix sculpture at the start and part of the route is decorated with 10,257 colourful stripes which represent the four nucleotides of the BRCA2 gene (discovered at the Sanger Centre in Hinxton).Read more