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FRIDAY, July 30 (HealthDayNews) -- The greatest biological discovery of the 20th century had such a humble origin that it might as well have been born in a manger.

On April 25, 1953, a scientific paper clocking in at a mere 875 words was tucked into page 737 of the British journal Nature. Upon its publication, it received as much notice as a dog-bites-man affair.

The paper, titled "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids," made a modest proposal, beginning with "We wish to suggest the structure . . . " It was co-authored by Cambridge University scientists Francis H. Crick, 37, and James D. Watson, an American just two weeks past his 25th birthday.

The two young researchers suggested DNA was three-dimensional and shaped like a double helix. They argued that DNA, and not protein as many others had thought, was the basis for passing on traits from one generation to the next.

The British press didn't pick up on the discovery for a month, and The New York Times readers didn't know about it until June 13. But once scientists realized what Crick and Watson had hit upon, they knew the small paper would eventually be the wellspring of many major discoveries. Some of those were to surpass what the two could only have dreamed of back then.

Crick, a British native who spent the last 27 years of his career at the Salk Institute, died Wednesday in a San Diego hospital of colon cancer, the institute announced Thursday. He was 88.

"Francis Crick was one of the dominant figures in biomedical science of the past century," Dr. Edward Holmes, dean of the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, said in a statement. "His insights and discoveries transformed the way we think about heredity and paved the way for the genome revolution," a foundation block for biomedical science in the 21st century.

Legacy is Crick's legacy. He and Watson had help in their discovery from notables such as Linus Pauling and relative unknowns such as Rosalind Franklin, but the two received the lion's share of the credit. Their work led to the 1962 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, which they shared with another scientist, Maurice Wilkins.

If DNA is the human genetic blueprint, then the Watson-Crick paper was the blueprint for every other genetic discovery to follow.

The work unlocked the door to many diseases, which have since revealed themselves to be genetic in nature -- diabetes, Huntington's disease, cancer, heart disease and so on. A few years ago, thanks to their short treatise, researchers decoded the entire genome of humans.

Years before and years after the discovery, Crick kept humble. He was born in Northampton, England, in 1916. His interest in biology was piqued when his parents purchased him a children's encyclopedia. He loved atoms and, much to his parents' dismay, he loved to blow things up.

After World War II, he decided to settle upon molecular biology because, he said, one should do "whatever you find yourself gossiping about." And he often gave Watson credit for discovering the structural basis for DNA even though his own background in X-rays and structures was stronger.

"I will always remember Francis for his extraordinarily focused intelligence and for the many ways he showed me kindness and developed my self-confidence. He treated me as though I were a member of his family," Watson said in a statement.

Watson, president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, added, "Being with him for two years in a small room in Cambridge was truly a privilege. I always looked forward to being with him and speaking to him, up until the moment of his death. He will be sorely missed."

Toward the end of his life, Crick began focusing on the brain and consciousness because he wanted to "assess correctly our place in this vast and complicated universe we see all around us." A lab at the Salk Institute that will work on that subject will bear his name.

Crick is survived by his wife, Odile Speed; two daughters; a son, and four grandchildren.

More information

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has more on 50 Years of DNA.

Staff reporter Amanda Gardner contributed to this article.

(SOURCES: July 29, 2004, Salk Institute news release; statement from James Watson, Ph.D., president, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.; statement from Edward Holmes, M.D.; associate vice chancellor, health sciences, and dean, University of California San Diego School of Medicine; April 25, 1953, Nature)

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