Francis Crick: Co-Discoverer of the Structure of DNA Dies at 88

Francis Crick was a British molecular biologist who co-discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. Born on June 8, 1916, in Northampton, England, he first trained as a physicist.

Working with James Watson at Cambridge in 1953, Crick proposed the DNA double helix. He shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Watson and Maurice Wilkins. Crick also proposed the central dogma of molecular biology and the adaptor hypothesis for protein synthesis.

In 1976 he moved to the Salk Institute in California, where he turned to the study of consciousness. He died of colon cancer at a hospital in San Diego on July 28, 2004, at age 88.

Achievements: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1962), Copley Medal, Order of Merit.

Birth: June 8, 1916 - Northampton, England.

Profession: Molecular biologist.

Interesting Facts: He announced the discovery to patrons of a Cambridge pub, saying they had found the secret of life.