Highest impact structures: Difference between revisions
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===20th Century=== | ===20th Century=== | ||
* '''1953 - [[DNA]] double helix''' (B form): Although Watson and Crick's model was theoretical | * '''1953 - [[DNA]] double helix''' (B form): Although Watson and Crick's model was not based on 3D crystallographic data, the fiber diffraction images obtained by Rosalind Franklin guided them in their hypotheses. The theoretical model they arrived at was essentially correct, and for the first time explained the ability of genes to be faithfully copied during cell division. It was not confirmed by atomic resolution X-ray crystallography until 1973, using RNA dinucleotide crystals. A full turn of B form DNA was not solved until 1980 (cf. [[1bna]]), 27 years after Watson and Crick's model. More: click on DNA at the [http://atlas.molviz.org Atlas of Macromolecules] | ||
* '''1958 - [[Myoglobin]]''': As the first protein structure that was determined, it is hard to exaggerate its impact. Before this structure, proteins were widely believed to be colloidal, and protein crystals were expected to contain highly symmetrical structures. The irregular fold of myoglobin (see photo of an early low-resolution model at [[Nobel Prizes for 3D Molecular Structure]]) was a huge surprise. | * '''1958 - [[Myoglobin]]''': As the first protein structure that was determined, it is hard to exaggerate its impact. Before this structure, proteins were widely believed to be colloidal, and protein crystals were expected to contain highly symmetrical structures. The irregular fold of myoglobin (see photo of an early low-resolution model at [[Nobel Prizes for 3D Molecular Structure]]) was a huge surprise. | ||