Watson-Crick model

[wot-suhn-krik]

noun

Biochemistry.

1. a widely accepted model for the three-dimensional structure of DNA, featuring a double-helix configuration for the molecule's two hydrogen-bonded complementary polynucleotide strands.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Watson-Crick model¹

1955–60; named after J. D. Watson and F. H. C. Crick

Example Sentences

By the early 1970s, he had helped provide important experimental confirmations of the Watson-Crick model and cast light into areas that remained mysterious.

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While the Watson-Crick model had achieved widespread acceptance and went virtually without challenge, Dr. Rich’s picture and the additional confirmation it provided was “very comforting,” Watson said.

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Implicit in the Watson-Crick model were the workings of DNA's other essential function: how it orders the production of proteins.

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