Francis Crick Quotes - Page 3

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• It now seems very likely that many of the 64 triplets, possibly most of them, may code one amino acid or another, and that in general several distinct triplets may code one amino acid.

  Francis Crick

  May, Acid, Triplet

  52 Copy quote

• It is notoriously difficult to define the word living.

  Francis Crick

  Life, Live Life, Science

  5 Copy quote

• Trying to determine the structure of a protein by UV spectroscopy was like trying to determine the structure of a piano by listening to the sound it made while being dropped down a flight of stairs.

  Francis Crick

  Science, Engineering, Piano

  59 Copy quote

• Anybody who believes that the earth is less than 10,000 years old needs psychiatric help.

  Francis Crick

  Believe, Years, Needs

  6 Copy quote

• Protein synthesis is a central problem for the whole of biology, and that it is in all probability closely related to gene action.

  Francis Crick

  Science, Synthesis, Action

  4 Copy quote

• It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material.

  Francis Crick

  Copying, Genetics, Materials

  "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids," Nature, 25 Apr. 1953. Coauthored with James D.Watson.

  5 Copy quote

• We are sometimes asked what the result would be if we put four +'s in one gene. To answer this my colleagues have recently put together not merely four but six +'s.

  Francis Crick

  Together, Would Be, Answers

  8 Copy quote

• How is the base sequence, divided into codons? There is nothing in the backbone of the nucleic acid, which is perfectly regular, to show us how to group the bases into codons.

  Francis Crick

  Groups, Acid, Backbone

  8 Copy quote

• Our ... advantage was that we had evolved unstated but fruitful methods of collaboration ... If either of us suggested a new idea, the other, while taking it seriously, would attempt to demolish it in a candid but non-hostile manner.

  Francis Crick

  Ideas, Collaboration, Candid

  4 Copy quote

• If, for example, all the codons are triplets, then in addition to the correct reading of the message, there are two incorrect readings which we shall obtain if we do not start the grouping into sets of three at the right place.

  Francis Crick

  Reading, Two, Messages

  56 Copy quote

• Do codons overlap? In other words, as we read along the genetic message do we find a base which is a member of two or more codons? It now seems fairly certain that codons do not overlap.

  Francis Crick

  Two, Messages, Members

  4 Copy quote

• Jim and I hit it off immediately, partly because our interests were astonishingly similar and partly, I suspect, because a certain youthful arrogance, a ruthlessness, an impatience with sloppy thinking can naturally to both of us.

  Francis Crick

  Science, Thinking, Arrogance

  8 Copy quote

• For simplicity one can think of the + class as having one extra base at some point or other in the genetic message and the - class as having one too few.

  Francis Crick

  Thinking, Class, Simplicity

  7 Copy quote

• If the code does indeed have some logical foundation then it is legitimate to consider all the evidence, both good and bad, in any attempt to deduce it.

  Francis Crick

  Foundation, Doe, Logical

  6 Copy quote

• This seems highly likely, especially as it has been shown that in several systems mutations affecting the same amino acid are extremely near together on the genetic map.

  Francis Crick

  Together, Mutation, Maps

  "The Realm of Science" by David Rosenberg, Volume 18, Touchstone Publishing Company, (p. 171), 1972.

  7 Copy quote

• Moreover the incorporation requires the same components needed for protein synthesis, and is inhibited by the same inhibitors. Thus the system is most unlikely to be a complete artefact and is very probably closely related to genuine protein synthesis.

  Francis Crick

  Synthesis, Unlikely, Protein

  80 Copy quote

• A comparison between the triplets tentatively deduced by these methods with the changes in amino acid sequence produced by mutation shows a fair measure of agreement.

  Francis Crick

  Agreement, Mutation, Acid

  64 Copy quote

• It would appear that the number of nonsense triplets is rather low, since we only occasionally come across them. However this conclusion is less secure than our other deductions about the general nature of the genetic code.

  Francis Crick

  Numbers, Nonsense, Lows

  52 Copy quote

• A final proof of our ideas can only be obtained by detailed studies on the alterations produced in the amino acid sequence of a protein by mutations of the type discussed here.

  Francis Crick

  Ideas, Mutation, Finals

  54 Copy quote

• It now seems certain that the amino acid sequence of any protein is determined by the sequence of bases in some region of a particular nucleic acid molecule.

  Francis Crick

  Molecules, Acid, Determined

  52 Copy quote

• It has yet to be shown by direct biochemical methods, as opposed to the indirect genetic evidence mentioned earlier, that the code is indeed a triplet code.

  Francis Crick

  Indirect, Method, Evidence

  59 Copy quote

• Finally one should add that in spite of the great complexity of protein synthesis and in spite of the considerable technical difficulties in synthesizing polynucleotides with defined sequences it is not unreasonable to hope that all these points will be clarified in the near future, and that the genetic code will be completely established on a sound experimental basis within a few years.

  Francis Crick

  Dna, Years, Sound

  4 Copy quote

• The meaning of this observation is unclear, but it raises the unfortunate possibility of ambiguous triplets; that is, triplets which may code more than one amino acid. However one would certainly expect such triplets to be in a minority.

  Francis Crick

  Minorities, May, Acid

  54 Copy quote

• If poly A is added to poly U, to form a double or triple helix, the combination is inactive.

  Francis Crick

  Double Standard, Form, Combination

  8 Copy quote

• Unfortunately it makes the unambiguous determination of triplets by these methods much more difficult than would be the case if there were only one triplet for each amino acid.

  Francis Crick

  Determination, Would Be, Acid

  66 Copy quote

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