In April 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure of Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” or “A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” in the journal Nature. In the article, Watson and Crick propose a novel structure for deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. In 1944, Oswald T. Avery and his group at Rockefeller University in New York City, New York published experimental evidence that DNA contained genes, the biological factors called genes that dictate how organisms grow and develop. Scientists did not know how DNA’s function led to the passage of genetic information from cell to cell, or organism to organism. The model that Watson and Crick presented connected the concept of genes to heredity, growth, and development. As of 2018, most scientists accept Watson and Crick’s model of DNA presented in the article. For their work on DNA, Watson and Crick shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Maurice Wilkins.

Maxine Frank Singer was a researcher who studied molecular biology and genetics in the United States during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Her work synthesizing RNA molecules advanced researchers’ ability to understand triplets of nucleotides in RNA and DNA, which allowed them to read the genetic code. Singer was also one of the first scientists to find that certain long repeated DNA sequences, called long interspersed nucleotide elements, or LINEs, can jump around, and the mechanism behind it. Outside of her research, Singer also was active in science policy, helping to regulate the use of genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technologies, and organizing conferences around the topic, such as the Asilomar Conference. Prior to Singer’s work, researchers knew that DNA was a double stranded molecule made up of alternating nucleotides, but Singer contributed to researchers’ understanding of what those nucleotides meant in the genetic code. While Singer advanced the scientific community’s understanding of how to read the genetic code and how LINEs impact genetic diseases, her promotion of ethical discussions of scientific responsibilities in manipulating the code helped create policy that continues to affect researchers exploring genetic engineering as of 2024.