The DNA double helix: model and diffraction evidence

What changed

A molecular structure connected DNA chemistry with a plausible copying mechanism.

Scientific scope

The 1953 double-helix model together with its separately attributed diffraction evidence.

Evidence

The cited historical record or published author account supports this scoped contribution. The source-reading boundary is stated at each link; a WRS grade is not an independent scientific validation.

Contributors

• James Watson; Francis Crick · SCIENCE: Structural model.
• Rosalind Franklin; Raymond Gosling · SCIENCE: Diffraction evidence and structural analysis.
• Maurice Wilkins; Alec Stokes; Herbert Wilson · SCIENCE: Separate experimental structural report.

• Watson and Crick, 1953
• Franklin and Gosling, 1953
• Wilkins, Stokes and Wilson, 1953

Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-16.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.

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