The Genome Futures event gets local school students talking with Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists. Why is this zone named the Crick Zone, and why is it relevant to the Sanger Institute?
Francis Crick was a British scientist who together with James D Watson co-discovered the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. This ground breaking research took place in the Cavendish Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. It won Crick, along with James Watson and Maurice Wilkins, the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962.
Uncovering the structure of DNA enabled us to understand how DNA is copied in cells. This led to the development of techniques to find out the sequence of bases or letters in the DNA of the human genome.
After the discovery of the double helix, Crick went on to describe how the genetic code in DNA results in the production of molecules including RNA and protein. These discoveries helped improve our understanding of how DNA and genetics are involved in the basic functions of all organisms including humans.