Fifty years of "Watson-Crick"

Fifty years have passed since Watson and Crick proposed the molecular basis for the replication of nucleic acid and hence the transfer of genetic information. During this time, a model for the expression of this genetic information has been proposed and refined considerably. Coincident with these advances, the chemical synthesis of oligonucleotides combined with the power of molecular biology has facilitated dramatic advances in our understanding of the fundamental workings of the living cell.