The Race For The Double Helix

The Race for the Double Helix (1987)
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Satisfaction comes not from knowing the solution, but from knowing why its the solution
General Questions
1. What was James Watsons primary motivation for studying nucleic acids?
2. Watson won a fellowship from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis as a result of very
promising scholarship while completing a Ph.D at the University of Indiana. To what English
university did he go to work after receiving this fellowship?
3. When being interviewed by the director, he decided to have Watson work with one of the older Ph.D.
candidates, who was nicknamed the bright hope. Who was that?
4. What did the director of the lab mean when he said that he hoped Watsons new research partner
would fulfill his early promise before he gets late?
5. Rosalind Franklin was changing jobs just about the time Watson was meeting his new research
partner. At what college did she go to start this new research job?
6. How did Watson get Rosalind Franklins data on DNA?
7. Why werent Watson and Crick successful at building the first model?
8. How did the director of Watsons lab view Watson and his partners research attempt on DNA?
9. One of the critical segments of evidence was obtained when Watson and his partner attended a
formal dinner party (not the costume party). Who did they meet at the party and what was the
evidence that he told them?
10. Why were Watson and Crick in such a hurry to complete the second model?
11. Who was Linus Pauling and what was wrong with his DNA model?
12. A look at one of Franklins pictures provided the team with the necessary information about the
number of bases and the angle of the molecules. Explain how this information was obtained.
13. Crick provided the insight about the direction of travel in each DNA chain. Explain what he said about
this.
14. Which member of the team figured out how the bases attach to the deoxyribose sugars?
17. When they had all the pieces of the puzzle, they celebrated by going to a nearby pub. (February 27,
1953) What did they tell the other patrons that they had discovered?
18. It took Watson and Crick about a month to build the second model. The paper was submitted to
Nature on April 4, and was published April 23. How much actual lab research had Watson and his
teammate done to complete the model?
19. What did Crick mean when he said, about the DNA molecule, It never dies, Jim near the end of the
film?
20. When was the Nobel Prize awarded? Why wasnt Franklin awarded a share of the Nobel Prize?
21. What did you learn from the movie that you didnt previously know?
Reflective Write
Write one to two paragraphs expressing and explaining your thoughts and
opinions about the story of the discovery of the structure of DNA as presented in
the video. Address ONE of the following questions.
1. Sir Lawrence Bragg, Director of the laboratory in which they were employed, did not want Watson
and Crick "fishing in other people's ponds" by working on the structure of DNA.. To what extent is
science territorial, and to what extent is such territoriality: beneficial or harmful; necessary or
unnecessary; ethical or unethical?
2. Watson and Crick clearly made use of the ideas and results of other scientists in pursuing their
goal, including those of Linus Pauling, Erwin Chargaff and Rosalind Franklin. This is, of course, a
commonly accepted practice. What was it, then, that leads some to suggest that Franklin had
been treated unethically as a result of the use of her findings in the construction of the WatsonCrick DNA model? Were Pauling's and Chargaff's scientific conclusions or predictions also
appropriated improperly?
3. Franklin's approach to the DNA problem was painstaking and methodical. She clearly eschewed
guesswork. Watson and Crick, on the other hand, did no labor intensive experiments, ventured
many guesses about the DNA structure based upon the results of other scientists, and finally
triumphed because this informed speculation allowed them to build a model that uniquely
conformed to all the known properties of the molecule. Is there anything inherently unethical or of
questionable values in the less conventional approach of Watson and Crick?
4. It is clear that in the 1950s Watson held the very chauvanistic and derogatory attitudes toward
women that were common among male scientists in that era. Does Watson's attitude result in his
devaluing of Franklin's research?
5. To what extent do the social values that Franklin had to confront justify her reluctance to engage
in discussions about her research progress with her male colleagues?

6. Credit for a scientific discovery is generally awarded to the person(s) who first publishes the
finding. Do you see any ethical problems with this?

7. If you were going to be a scientist, which of these researchers would you choose to be like and
why?

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What was James Watson's primary motivation for studying nucleic acids?

Who was Linus Pauling and what was wrong with his DNA model?

The Race for the Double Helix (1987)

6. How did Watson get Rosalind Franklins data on DNA?

in discussions about her research progress with her male colleagues?

finding. Do you see any ethical problems with this?

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