Francis Crick was high on LSD when he discovered the structure of DNA
the verdict
REFUTED
the evidence says no
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
3 sources for · 1 against
AS REPORTEDno primary record reached; this is what the reporting says
Some pop-culture books and articles repeat the claim that Francis Crick was under the influence of LSD when discovering DNA, but reliable historical evaluations note that while he used LSD later in life, the 1953 timeline is unlikely.
... he was told by Kary Mullis that LSD had helped him develop the polymerase chain reaction. Francis Crick, the Nobel Prize– winning father of modern genetics, was under the influence of LSD when he discovered the double-helix structure of DNA ...
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Francis Harry Compton Crick (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004) was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins played crucial roles in deciphering the helical structure of the DNA molecule.
Crick and Watson's paper in Nature in 1953 laid the groundwork for understanding DNA structure and functions. Together with Maurice Wilki
Soon after Crick's death, there have been allegations about him having used LSD when he came to the idea of the helix structure of the DNA. While he almost certainly did use LSD, it is unlikely that he did so as early as 1953. In the late 1960s he was given LSD by Henry Todd who met Crick through his girlfriend who had modelled for Crick's wife.
National DNA Day, 25 April 2006 Moderated Chat Transcript Archive
Independent On Line article about Consciousness, 7 June 2006.
Siegel RM, Callaway EM (December 2004). "Francis Crick's Legacy for Neuroscience: Between the α and the Ω". PLOS Biology. 2 (12): e419. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020419. PMC 535570. PMID 17593891.
100 Scientists and Thinkers: James Watson and Francis Crick from Time magazine.
Francis Crick: Nobel Prize 1962, Physiology or Medicine
First press stories on DNA but for the "second" DNA story in The New York Times, see: https://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/science/dna-article.pdf — for reproduction of the original text in June 1953.
50th anniversary series of articles -from The New York Times.
Quotes Archived 7 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine of Robert Olby on exactly who may have discovered the structure of DNA.
A celebration of Francis Crick's life in science.
Francis Crick tells his life story at Web of Stories
Bretscher M, Lawrence P (August 2004). "Francis Crick 1916–2004". Current Biology. 14 (16): R642–5. Bibcode:2004CBio...14.R642B. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2004.08.006. PMID 15324677.
Article by Mark Steyn from The Atlantic in 2004.
Review of Francis Crick: Hunter of Life's Secrets in Current Biology.
Ibid. 183 Rees, A. “Nobel Prize genius Crick was high on LSD when he dis- covered the secret of life,” … with LSD. Francis Crick, the father of modern genetics, was under the influence of LSD when he discovered … said it was LSD that helped him to unravel the structure of DNA, the discovery that won him the Nobel Prize
Rees, ‘Nobel Prize Genius Crick Was High on LSD When He Discovered the Secret of Life’, Mail … anyway. When Francis Crick and James Watson were hunting down the structure of DNA, they had … had been high on LSD at the moment when he and James Watson had discovered the structure
Everything we examined (4) — 3 independent sources
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