What Does DNA Look Like? After 66 Years, We’re Still Learning More.

Exactly 66 years ago, on April 25, 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson published their famous article that showed that the shape of DNA is a double helix. They weren’t able to see DNA directly – it’s much too small for that – but came to their conclusion based on calculations and X-ray diffraction images. A crucial piece of information came from the famous “Photo 51”, an X-ray image of DNA taken by Rosalind Franklin.