DNA: 50 years on

This April it's been hard to move without falling over DNA. The 50th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix has been rightly celebrated as one of the defining scientific moments of the last century. It's also been used as an opportunity to raise discussion of where our ever-greater ability to manipulate DNA is taking us.

The intervening 50 years has seen DNA come to take centre-stage in biomedical research. By the early 1960s, Sydney Brenner thought that all the major molecular biological challenges had been solved. He wanted to know how genes were involved in development, and turned to a tiny soil-dwelling worm to find the answers (see Analysis article entitled [brokenlink] Why the worm). Francis Crick stuck with DNA, making significant contributions after the double helix, before tackling an even bigger challenge - the function of the brain (see Analysis article entitled [brokenlink] The Crick file).

Yet DNA retains a capacity to enthrall and entice. There are rather prosaic reasons why this might be so - DNA is easy to work with; genome sequences are a fabulous (and free) resource to work with; there is an extensive toolbox to draw upon. But DNA and the genome retain an enduring attraction for researchers. The genome retains many secrets, and uncovering its history, how it operates, and how it makes us what we are remain major scientific challenges. And, of course, many scientists are motivated by the belief that a better understanding of our genetic inheritance holds the key to a healthier future.

So the fascination with DNA is understandable, but are we in danger of overlooking other important aspects of biology? After all, it's proteins that do most of the work in the body and are the targets of most of our drugs. Chimps and humans both have a FOXP2 gene (see Research Directions article entitled [brokenlink] The FOXP2 story), but tiny differences in the FOXP2 protein in the two species may have had a profound effect on the development of language.

So let's [brokenlink] celebrate DNA but not neglect the other key players. Besides, we need to prepare for the next anniversary. In the month that sees the launch of the [brokenlink] Structural Genomics Consortium, how about 2010 - the 50th anniversary of the determination of the first protein structure, myoglobin.

The Editor

IMAGE CREDITS
All images, unless otherwise stated below, are from the Wellcome Trust's [brokenlink] Medical Photographic Library. Historical images are from material held in the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Material can be viewed at the Wellcome Library or copies obtained through the Medical Photographic Library.

NEWS SECTION

•Structural Genomics Consortium launches
Image: Structure of the Shiga-like toxin B subunit, five copies of which associate to form a pentamer with five-fold symmetry. Courtesy of Professor Randy Read

ANALYSIS SECTION

•Why the worm?
Front image: A section of the worm, Caenorhabditis elegans.
Back image: Early cell-division in C. elegans. Courtesy of Julie Ahringer

•The Crick file
Front image: Francis Crick adjusts an early model of DNA. SPL
Back image: The telegram bringing news of Francis Crick's Nobel Prize.

RESEARCH DIRECTIONS SECTION

•The FOXP2 story
Front image: A molecular model of the FOXP2 protein.

•Old disease, new insight
Front image: Dr Inderjeet Dokal with Dr Philip Mason.
Back image: Dyskeratosis congenita affects many parts of the body particularly skin. Courtesy of Dr Inderjeet Dokal

•FMD dilemma
Front image: The foot and mouth disease virus.

POLYPTYCH SECTION

•Seeing DNA
Image: A typical computer-generated model of the double-helix.

•Four by four
Front image: From Graeme J Walker's limited-edition booklet.
Back image: From Gair Dunlop's mixed media installation, taking material from a lost travelogue for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, Century 21 Calling.

•Knowing Darwin
Image: Professor Janet Browne next to a bust of Charles Darwin at the Natural History Museum.

•Surgery to Go?
Image: Japanese woodcut by Kuniyoshi, published in 1853, is just one of the treasures uncovered in the first few months of the Wellcome Library Iconographic Cataloguing Project.

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