#genetics

“We must never be afraid to go too far, for truth lies beyond.”

“The structure of DNA is the most important discovery in biology since Darwin's theory of evolution.”

“In my view, all that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall come nearer to success.”

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.”

“The results suggest a helical structure (which must be very closely packed) containing 2, 3 or 4 co‐axial nucleic acid chains per helical unit, and having the phosphate groups near the outside. Notes from November 1951 about Franklin's electron microscopy imaging of DNA, which led to Watson & Crick's publication of the structure of DNA by sixteen months. As quoted in How Rosalind Franklin Discovered the Helical Structure of DNA: Experiments in Diffraction (in The Physics Teacher 49, 140 (2011); doi: 10.1119/1.3555496), quoting Rosalind Franklin and DNA (2000), page 15.”

“What’s the use of doing all this work if we don't get some fun out of this? As quoted by Aaron Klug , interview , 17 June 2005 [1]”

“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated. in answer to her father, who accused her of making science her religion, as related by Brenda Maddox (2003).  Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA‎ . Perennial. p. 61. ISBN 0060985089 .”

“The greatest discovery in science is the discovery of ignorance.”

“Science proceeds not by proving things but by disproving them.”

“Avoid boring people.”

“The double helix is a simple structure, but its implications are profound.”

“I never dreamed of being famous. I just wanted to be a scientist.”

“If we don't play God, who will?”

“DNA is the most beautiful molecule in the world.”

“Science is a collaborative effort, and no single discovery belongs to any one person.”

“The brain is the last and grandest biological frontier.”

“We used to think our fate was in the stars. Now we know it is in our genes.”

“The job of theorists, especially in biology, is to suggest new experiments. A good theory makes not only predictions, but surprising predictions that then turn out to be true.”

“Both of us had decided, quite independently of each other, that the central problem in molecular biology was the chemical structure of the gene.”

“Rather than believe that Watson and Crick made the DNA structure, I would rather stress that the structure made Watson and Crick.”

“I argued that it was important not to place too much reliance on any single piece of experimental evidence. It might turn out to be misleading, as the 5.1 Å reflection undoubtedly was. Jim was a little more brash, stating that no good model ever accounted for all the facts, since some data was bound to be misleading if not plain wrong. A theory that did fit all the data would have been "carpentered" to do so and would thus be open to suspicion. (pp. 59”

“Big questions get big answers.”

“I wasn't aware of Chargaff's rules when he said them, but the effect on me was quite electric because I realized immediately that if you had this sort of scheme that John Griffith was proposing, of adenine being paired with thymine, and guanine being paired with cytosine, then you should get Chargaff's rules. I was very excited, but I didn't actually tell Chargaff because it was something I was doing with John Griffith. ... This was very exciting, and we thought "ah ha!" and we realized”

“Unlike you and your colleagues I have formed the opinion that there is much substance to Jensen's arguments. In brief I think it likely that more than half the difference between the average I.Q. of American whites and Negroes is due to genetic reasons, and will not be eliminated by any foreseeable change in the environment. Moreover I think the social consequences of this are likely to be rather serious unless steps are taken to recognize the situation. 22 February 1971”

“And so to those of you who may be vitalists I would make this prophecy: what everyone believed yesterday, and you believe today, only cranks will believe tomorrow.”

“The ultimate aim of the modern movement in biology is in fact to explain all biology in terms of physics and chemistry. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1966, p. 10.”

“If for example I had some idea, which as it turned out would be quite wrong, was going off of the tangent, Watson would tell me in no uncertain terms this was nonsense, and vice”