100th anniversary of the birth of Francis Crick

〜 Supplement by the Japanese translator of Matt Ridley's "Francis Crick" 〜

The Life of Francis Crick

(Francis Crick: 1916-2004)

Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code

Matt Ridley

(Japanese version: translated by Koji Tamura)

            Nameplate of Francis Crick’s office

                        (Salk Institute)

Francis Crick Special Issue

(Life Journal)

Francis Crick was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, most noted for being a co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA molecule in 1953 with James Watson. Francis Crick played a crucial role in revealing the genetic code and is widely known for use of the term “central dogma”, the idea that genetic information flow in cells is essentially one-way, from DNA to RNA to protein. The year 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Francis Crick. The Japanese translation of Matt Ridley's great book “Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code” was published from Keiso Shobo Publishing Co., Ltd. This book is not only an excellent biography of the great scientist, but also would be a valuable review of the history of molecular biology. Kindra Crick, a granddaughter of Francis Crick, wrote a fine preface to it. On the 100th anniversary year of the birth of Francis Crick, I would appreciate it if you could read the book. (See also Postscript to 'Francis Crick'.)