Design Network Switzerland - DNA: the story of the genetic revolution

DNA: The Secret of Life, the original edition, was conceived over dinner in 1999. Under discussion was how best to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of the double helix. Publisher Neil Patterson joined James D. Watson in dreaming up a multifaceted venture including this book, a television series, and additional more avowedly educational projects. Neils presence was no accident: he published JDWs first book, Molecular Biology of the Gene, in 1965 and ever since has lurked genielike behind JDWs writing projects. Doron Weber at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation then secured seed money to ensure that the idea would turn into something more concrete. Andrew Berry was recruited in 2000 to hammer out a detailed outline for the TV series and became a regular commuter between his base in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and JDWs at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on the north coast of Long Island, close to New York City.

From the start, our goal was to go beyond merely recounting the events of the past fifty years. DNA has moved from being an esoteric molecule of interest to only a handful of specialists to being the heart of a technology that is transforming many aspects of the way we all live. With that transformation has come a host of difficult questions about its impactpractical, social, and ethical. Using the fiftieth anniversary as an opportunity to pause and take stock of these developments, we gave an unabashedly personal view both of the history and of the issues. Moreover, it is JDWs personal view and, accordingly, written in the first-person singular.

For this fully updated edition, Kevin Davies was invited to help convey many of the remarkable advances in genetics research in the decade since the original publication. The book features two new chapters: Personal Genetics (chapter 8) considers the advances in DNA sequencing technology that have fueled areas such as consumer genetics and clinical genome sequencing. In the closing chapter, Cancer: War Without End?, we look at progress in cancer research and therapeutics, and ask what it will take to win what appears to be an unwinnable war.

We have tried to write for a general audience, intending that someone with zero biological knowledge should be able to understand the books every word. Each technical term is explained when first introduced. In addition, the Further Reading section lists sources relevant to each chapter. Where possible we have avoided the technical literature, but the titles listed nevertheless provide a more in-depth exploration of particular topics than we supply.

We thank the many people who contributed generously to this project in one way or another in the acknowledgments at the back of the book. Four individuals, however, deserve special mention. George Andreou, our preternaturally patient editor at Knopf, wrote much more of this bookthe good bitsthan we would ever let on. Kiryn Haslinger, JDWs superbly efficient assistant at Cold Spring Harbor Lab, cajoled, bullied, edited, researched, nitpicked, mediated, and wroteall in approximately equal measure. The book simply would not have happened without her. Jan Witkowski, also of Cold Spring Harbor Lab, did a marvelous job of pulling together chapters 10, 11, and 12 in record time and provided indispensable guidance throughout the project. Maureen Berejka, JDWs assistant, rendered sterling service as usual in her capacity as the sole inhabitant of planet Earth capable of interpreting JDWs handwriting.

JAMES D. WATSON

Cold Spring Harbor, New York

ANDREW BERRY

Cambridge, Massachusetts

KEVIN DAVIES

Washington, D.C.

The Secret of Life

As was normal for a Saturday morning, I got to work at the University of Cambridges Cavendish Laboratory earlier than Francis Crick on February 28, 1953. I had good reason for being up early. I knew that we were closethough I had no idea just how closeto figuring out the structure of a then little-known molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid: DNA. This was not any old molecule: DNA, as Crick and I appreciated, holds the very key to the nature of living things. It stores the hereditary information that is passed on from one generation to the next, and it orchestrates the incredibly complex world of the cell. Figuring out its 3-D structurethe molecules architecturewould, we hoped, provide a glimpse of what Crick referred to only half jokingly as the secret of life.

We already knew that DNA molecules consist of multiple copies of a single basic unit, the nucleotide, which comes in four forms: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C). I had spent the previous afternoon making cardboard cutouts of these various components, and now, undisturbed on a quiet Saturday morning, I could shuffle around the pieces of the 3-D jigsaw puzzle. How did they all fit together? Soon I realized that a simple pairing scheme worked exquisitely well: A fitted neatly with T, and G with C. Was this it? Did the molecule consist of two chains linked together by A-T and G-C pairs? It was so simple, so elegant, that it almost had to be right. But I had made mistakes in the past, and before I could get too excited, my pairing scheme would have to survive the scrutiny of Cricks critical eye. It was an anxious wait.