Author(s): Julie Clayton

Science

Crick and Watson's discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 marked one of the great turning points in the history of science. Biology, immunology, medicine and genetics have all been radically transformed in the succeeding half century, and the double helix has become an icon of our times. This exploration of a scientific phenomenon provides a lucid account of the background and context for the discovery, its significance and afterlife, while a series of essays by leading scientists, historians and commentators offer individual perspectives on DNA and its impact on modern science and society.

About the author:
JULIE CLAYTON has a PhD in cancer research and immunology, and did four years' postdoctoral research in Los Angeles and London before embarking on a career as a freelance science writer. She has worked as an assistant producer for the BBC on television documentaries and reports for Horizon and Tomorrow's World, on the medical biography series Pioneers and on natural history films, and has published widely with Nature, New Scientists and many other scientific journals and websites. - CARINA DENNIS in now a freelance science writer based in Australia, having previously worked in Washington DC as Senior Editor at Nature responsible for genetics and genomics, and in New York City at Nature Genetics. She has a D Phil from the University of Oxford and is co-editor with Richard Gallagher of The Human Genome, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2001.