title: 1953: when genes became "information".
abstract: In 1953, Watson and Crick not only described the double-helix structure of DNA, but also embraced the idea that genes contained a code that expresses information and thereby changed our view of life. This article traces how these ideas entered biological thinking and highlights the connections between different branches of science at the time, exploring the power of metaphor in science.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. cobb@manchester.ac.uk
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cobb
mesh_terms: D003062:Codon; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D005823:Genetics / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000266:history*
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D004247:DNA