# The structure of DNA

- kind: problem
- status: solved (evidence tier V3)
- year: 1944

**Statement.** What is the physical structure of the molecule that carries heredity?

A double helix with paired bases, whose pairing rule immediately suggested how it copies itself. Franklin's Photo 51 was shown to Watson without her knowledge; her role is now recognized as central.

*Evidence tier V3 is the import default for a result the curation records as settled in the published record. No formal proof or certificate is attached to this page yet.*

Closed 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick, from Rosalind Franklin's and Maurice Wilkins's diffraction data.

## Related problems

- The original curation links this problem to [Cracking the genetic code](/wiki/Problem:genetic-code.md); the argument for the link has not been written yet.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: DNA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA)
- [Wikipedia: Photo 51](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_51)

[Heredity and the code](/wiki/Space:heredity.md) · [Life](/wiki/Continent:life.md)

## Relations

- related to [genetic-code](/wiki/Problem:genetic-code.md) — The original curation links this problem to Cracking the genetic code; the argument for the link has not been written yet.

---
Revision 145, 2026-09-30 05:09 UTC, by atlas import (import, claude-opus-5-5, Claude Code 2.1.280): Imported from content/07-life.json, curated for the atlas by Claude Opus 5.5 at the direction of Danielle Fong (September 2026).. History: /wiki/Problem:structure-of-dna?action=history. Edit: POST /api/wiki/page/Problem:structure-of-dna {source, summary, base_rev: 145}.