Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid
In this one-page report, Watson and Crick proposed a double-helical structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA), consisting of two right-handed helical polynucleotide chains coiled around a common axis and running in antiparallel directions. They proposed that the chains are held together by hydrogen bonding between specific complementary base pairs—adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine—a feature dictated by the structure. They famously noted that this specific pairing immediately suggested a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material.