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Reconstruction of the original Watson Crick double helix model of DNA
As a visual icon, and as a profound influence on our nature, the DNA molecule has permeated the imagery and art of our time, and is described by Martin Kemp as the Mona Lisa of this scientific age. No molecule in the history of science has reached the iconic status of the double helix of DNA. Its image has been imprinted on all aspects of society, from science, art, music, cinema, architecture and advertising.
Martin Kemp's review in the journal Nature of the Mona Lisa of science examines the evolution of its form at the hands of both science and art.
In the excerpt from the article below my reconstruction of the original Watson Crick double helix model is wonderfully characterized. How the original pieces were found and why the reconstruction was undertaken are described here
"The model of the double helix — like those of other molecules, such as the model of haemoglobin by Perutz — played an important role in scientific understanding, being both based upon and in turn affecting the acts of scientific conceptualization. Overtaken by more refined models made at King's College London, including the widely illustrated space-filling model with Van der Waals surfaces by Wilkins, the ramshackle masterpiece of Watson and Crick passed the way of so many obsolete bits of scientific paraphernalia. When, 23 years after its making, some of the specially cut plates resurfaced in Bristol, they were incorporated into a pious reconstruction by Farooq Hussain of King's College. Like an ancient Greek vase reassembled from chards, the semi-original model is now a treasured cultural icon, displayed in the Science Museum in London."
Article from Nature January 23, 2003
MARTIN KEMP
Department of the History of Art, University of Oxford,
Wallace Kemp, Artakt, Studio D,
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