Editing 1953 in science (section)

==Biology==
* February 15 – [[Linus Pauling]] proposes a DNA triple helix structure,<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Proposed Structure For The Nucleic Acids|first1=Linus|last1=Pauling|first2=Robert B.|last2=Corey|authorlink2=Robert Corey|journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]]|date=1953-02-15|volume=39|issue=2|pages=84-97|url=https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.39.2.84}}</ref> which is rapidly shown to be incorrect.
[[File:DNA Structure+Key+Labelled.png|thumb|right|250px|25 April 1953: the [[DNA]] [[double helix]] is first formally described.]]
* February 28 – Francis Crick and James Watson enter [[The Eagle, Cambridge]], for a pub lunch announcing "We have discovered the secret of life."<ref>{{cite book|first=James|last=Watson|title=[[The Double Helix]]|year=1968}}</ref>
* April 25 – [[Francis Crick]] and [[James D. Watson]] of the U.K. [[Medical Research Council (United Kingdom)|Medical Research Council]]'s Unit for Research on the Molecular Structure of Biological Systems at the [[Cavendish Laboratory]] in the [[University of Cambridge]] publish "[[Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid]]" in the British journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Watson|first1=J. D.|last2=Crick|first2=F. H. C.|year=1953|title=Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid|volume=171|pages=737–738|journal=Nature|issue=4356|doi=10.1038/171737a0|pmid=13054692|bibcode=1953Natur.171..737W|s2cid=4253007}}</ref> Their work is often ranked as one of the most dramatic biological discoveries of the 20th century, because of the structural beauty and functional logic of the [[DNA|DNA double helix]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/25/newsid_2932000/2932793.stm|title=Scientists describe 'secret of life'|publisher=[[BBC]]|work=On This Day|access-date=January 10, 2008|date=April 25, 1953|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222124939/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/25/newsid_2932000/2932793.stm|archive-date=December 22, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1962, they will share the [[Nobel Prize in Medicine]] with [[Maurice Wilkins]], who publishes [[X-ray crystallography]] results for DNA in the same issue of ''Nature'' in 1953.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Wilkins, M. H. F. |author2-link=Alex Stokes |author2=Stokes, A. R. |author3-link=Herbert Wilson |author3=Wilson, H. R. |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/wilkins.pdf|title=Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids|volume=171|pages=738–740|journal=Nature|year=1953|access-date=March 1, 2011|doi=10.1038/171738a0|pmid=13054693|issue=4356|bibcode=1953Natur.171..738W|s2cid=4280080 }}</ref> The third related article published at the same time is by [[Rosalind Franklin]] and [[Raymond Gosling]], on "Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate".<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Rosalind E.|last1=Franklin|first2=R. G.|last2=Gosling|title=Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/franklingosling.pdf|volume=171|pages=740–741|journal=Nature|year=1953|access-date=March 1, 2011|doi=10.1038/171740a0|pmid=13054694|issue=4356|bibcode=1953Natur.171..740F|s2cid=4268222}}</ref><ref>[http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/tp/10scientists.htm Francis Crick (1916–2004) and James Watson (b. 1928) together discovered the double helix structure of DNA, the "blueprint of life." Surprisingly, when ...] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407024345/http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/tp/10scientists.htm |date=2015-04-07 }} ''history1900s.about.com''</ref>