Download I am Irwin Chargaff, and I discovered the structure of DNA

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I am Erwin Chargaff, and I discovered the structure of
DNA.
Yes, I attest that my work indeed revealed the key
facts necessary to determine the basic chemical structure
of DNA.
Haven’t heard of me?
That may be because some of
my views, of a naturalist philosophy, were unpopular to
some people.
For instance, I believe that genetic
engineering is dangerous, as dangerous as nuclear war!
While science is of course important, and shines lights of
discovery into the fog our human minds have about, well,
everything, I strongly believe we should not engineer with
DNA haphazardly in the name of “science”, for the
consequences are unforeseeable and may be disagreeable.
Look at the uses of atomic science and see what I mean.
In 1944, while at Columbia University in New York
City, I began my investigations into the composition of
DNA. I collaborated with fellow scientists and biochemists
there, as I had when a student at Yale University. By 1950
I had experimentally determined certain crucial facts that
led directly to the correct elucidation of its molecular
structure.
I
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demonstrated three rules, known as Chargaff's
Rules, which state that in DNA:
1) The number of adenine (A) residues always equals the
number of
thymine (T) residues.
2) The number of guanine (G) residues always equals the
number of
cytosine (C) residues.
3) The number of purines (A + G) always equals the number
of
pyrimidines (T + C), which is an obvious consequence
of the above
rules.
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I did not collaborate with Watson and Crick.
However, we did have a historically significant
conversation in the year 1952.
As I related in my
autobiography called Heraclitean Fire: Sketches of a Life
Before Nature:
I told them all I knew. If they had heard before about
the pairing
rules, they concealed it. But as they did
not seem to know much
about anything, I was not unduly
surprised. I mentioned our early
attempts to explain the
complementarity relationships by the
the nucleic acid chain,
assumption that, in
adenylic acid was always
next
to thymidylic acid and cytidylic next to guanylic acid...I
believe
that the double-stranded model of DNA came about
as a
consequence of our conversation.
While those gentlemen went on to discover the double-
helix format in our genetic makeup, for which they won the
Nobel prize and became famous, I went on to do many good
things in the field of biochemistry.
Honorary degrees,
awards and Scientific Academy memberships were my legacy,
as was a respected tenure as professor at Columbia
University.
Things ended on a sour note there, but no
matter.
Family is more important than prestige-- I am also
proud of my long marriage to Vera Broido and my son Thomas
Chargaff.
A lasting legacy I would like to be remembered
for is my moral criticism of biological engineering.
not let its new and popular mystique fool you—it is a
Do
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mistake.
Thank you, and keep your sense of wonder while
exploring scientific inquiries—it sustained me for 96
years.
1. 2. 3.
www.macroevolution.net/erwinchargaff.html#.USJmQeh4Uy4
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Sources:
www.macroevolution.net/erwinchargaff.html#.USJmQeh4Uy4
www.answers.com/topic/erwin-chargaff
www.nndb.com/people/462/000179922/
Images:
www.dnalc.org/view/16429-Gallery-19-Erwin-Chargaff1947.html
www.macroevolution.net/erwinchargaff.html#.USJmQeh4Uy4
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QuickTime™ and a
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