Maurice+Wilkins


=  = =    = = Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins (1916-2004)   = =  = =                    = =    = = The Third Man of the Double Helix    = =    = =  "I mean, the general rule is if you're not prepared to make a mistake, you're not going to make much progress." - Maurice Wilkins       = =      = = = =<span style="color: rgb(42, 77, 229)">Biographical Information: <span style="color: rgb(65, 236, 234); font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="color: rgb(235, 40, 40)"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">     = = <span style="color: rgb(65, 236, 234); font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="color: rgb(235, 40, 40)"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="background-color: rgb(243, 43, 43)"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Date of Birth: December 15, 1916       = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="background-color: rgb(243, 43, 43)"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Date of Death: October 5, 2004     = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="background-color: rgb(243, 43, 43)"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Birthplace: Pongaroa, New Zealand   = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="background-color: rgb(243, 43, 43)"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Nationality: English     = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="background-color: rgb(243, 43, 43)"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Religion: None     = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="background-color: rgb(243, 43, 43)"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)"> Education: He attended King Edward's School in Birmingham, England. At school, Wilkins enjoyed to study the sciences and mathematics. In 1938, he earned his Bachelor of Science in physics at St. John's College in Cambridge. Two years later, at Birmingham University, Wilkins received his Ph. D. in physics. = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Occupations: At Birmingham University, Wilkins became a research assistent to Dr. J.T. Randall. They studied solids and their luminescense. Afterwards, he studied uranium isotopes used in bombs and worked with Professor Oliphant. He then became nuclear physicist working on the Manhattan Project. Following World War II, he was a lecturer of physics at St. Andrew's University in Scotland. He later became a biophysicist, in which he observed DNA at King's College in London. = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">    <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">DNA Discovery: Maurice Wilkins first began by studying nucleic acids and the positioning of purines and pyramidines. Wilkins took x-rays of a DNA molecule in May/June of 1950. This method is called x-ray diffraction and it allowed Wilkins to view the strands of DNA. The x-ray diffraction photographs showed that DNA was organized in a "twisted ladder," called a double helix. He and his assistent, Raymond Gosling, were able to determine the distance across the double-helix DNA and also the length of one turn in the helix. Wilkins also proved that the phosphate groups of the deoxyribonucleic acid were found on the outside of the molecule. These x-rays were then used by James Watson and Francis Crick to build their model of DNA. = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">   = = The structure of DNA is a double-helix and the phosphate groups are located on the outside of the helix. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">   = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">   = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">Awards: In 1960, Wilkins received Albert Lasker Award from the American Public Health Association. He also shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with James Watson and Francis Crick in 1962. = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">Family: Maurice Wilkins was born to Edgar and Evilene Wilkins. After Edgar Wilkins had qualified as a medical practioner, the couple moved from Ireland to New Zealand. In 1959, Maurice married Patricia Ann Chigdey. They had two children, Sarah and George Wilkins. = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">His Importance:   = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">"He is one of the pioneers of molecular biology and we wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are now without him." - Dr. Stephen Minger  = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">"Maurice Wilkins played an absolutely critical role in one of the most important discoveries in human history - the elucidation of the structure of DNA, the primary blueprint for life." -Adrian Hayday  = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">"Maurice Wilkins was a very important scientist who probably didn't get the credit he deserved for discoveries that have revolutionised science." - Dr. Stephen Minger  =

=<span style="color: rgb(42, 77, 229)">Bibliography: = <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif"> = =
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif">Grandin, Karl. "Maurice Wilkins." __Nobel Prize__. 7 Oct. 1997. Les Priz Nobel. 9 Apr. 2008 <www.nobelprize.org>
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif">Weisstein, Eric. "Maurice Wilkins." __Nndb__. 12 Feb. 2002. Soylent Communications. 9 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.nndb.com>.</span]>
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif">Brown, Peter. "Maurice Wilkins." __Maurice Wilkins Centre__. 21 Aug. 2006. Mallaghans Institute of Medical Research. 9 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.mauricewilkinscentre.org] >.