万物简史 第590期:生命的物质(16)（在线收听）

Still facing the possibility of being trumped at any moment, Watson and Crick applied themselves feverishly to the problem. It was known that DNA had four chemical components — called adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thiamine — and that these paired up in particular ways. By playing with pieces of cardboard cut into the shapes of molecules, Watson and Crick were able to work out how the pieces fit together. From this they made a Meccanolike model — perhaps the most famous in modern science — consisting of metal plates bolted together in a spiral, and invited Wilkins, Franklin, and the rest of the world to have a look. Any informed person could see at once that they had solved the problem. It was without question a brilliant piece of detective work, with or without the boost of Franklin's picture.

沃森和克里克仍然面临在任何时候被人超过的可能性，便拼命投入该问题的研究工作。当时已经知道，DNA含有4种化学成分——腺嘌呤、鸟嘌呤、胞嘧啶和胸腺嘧啶——这4种成分总是以特殊的配对方式排列。沃森和克里克将卡纸板剪成分子形状进行摆弄，终于搞清了它们是如何拼合在一起的。在此基础上，他们搭建起一个DNA双螺旋模型这也许是当代科学史上最著名的模型——它由螺栓将金属片装配成一个螺旋形而成。他们邀请威尔金斯、富兰克林以及其他所有的人前来观看，任何行内人马上明白他们已经解决了问题。毫无疑问，这是一件了不起的侦探工作，不管有没有替富兰克林的形象作了宣传。

The April 25, 1953, edition of Nature carried a 900-word article by Watson and Crick titled "A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid." Accompanying it were separate articles by Wilkins and Franklin. It was an eventful time in the world — Edmund Hillary was just about to clamber to the top of Everest while Elizabeth II was imminently to be crowned queen of England — so the discovery of the secret of life was mostly overlooked. It received a small mention in the News Chronicle and was ignored elsewhere.

1953年4月25日，《自然》杂志刊登了一篇沃森和克里克写的900字的文章，名为《DNA的一种结构》。在同一期杂志中，还刊登了两篇分别由威尔金斯和富兰克林撰写的文章。那是一个充满大事的年代——埃德蒙·希拉里正准备攀登珠穆朗玛峰；伊丽莎白二世即将加冕为英国女王——因此，发现生命之谜的意义在很大程度上被忽视了。它只是在《新闻纪事》中被略为提及，在别的地方却没有引起重视。