Letter from Aaron Klug to Francis Crick

Letter from Aaron Klug to Francis Crick

Contributor(s):
The Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Francis Harry Compton Crick Papers
Crick, Francis, 1916-2004
Klug, Aaron
Publication:
Produced: 28 September 1976
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Crystallography, X-Ray
Chromatin
Nucleosomes
Genre(s):
Archival Materials
Letters (correspondence)
Abstract:
Klug here related results from his X-ray diffraction studies of chromatin, the name given to the chromosomal material when extracted from the nucleus of cells in higher organisms (eukaryotic cells). Chromatin consists of DNA and an equal weight of associated, basic proteins called histones that serve as structural scaffolding. Klug examined the structural organization of chromatin in order to gain an understanding of how DNA is folded into the tight structure seen in a chromosome, how genes are separated by function, and how their expression is controlled.. Nucleosomes, also mentioned in the letter, are distinct complexes of histone and DNA in eukaryotic cells (cells with clearly-defined nuclei). Under the electron microscope they appear as bead-like bodies on a string of DNA.. Klug won the 1982 Nobel Prize in chemistry "for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes," chromatin and nucleosomes in particular.. NOTE: The margins of the second page are cut off in the original photocopied document.
Copyright:
This item may be under copyright protection; contact the copyright owner for permission before re-use.
Extent:
3 pages
NLM Unique ID:
101584582X220 (See in Profiles in Science)
Profiles in Science ID:
SCBBPS
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101584582X220
Archival Collection:
The Francis Crick Papers (Profiles in Science)