People of the Cell Cycle

Important people and their discoveries in the cell cycle.

Erwin Chargaff

Discovered the complementary base pairing which also supported the double helix structure of DNA.

Alfred Hershey

A molecular biologist known for the Hershey-Chase experiment, which demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material, using bacteriophages to provide evidence.

Martha Chase

A scientist who collaborated with Alfred Hershey in the Hershey-Chase experiment, which showed that DNA, not protein, carries genetic information.

James Watson

An American molecular biologist, best known for co-discovering the double helix structure of DNA alongside Francis Crick.

Francis Crick

An English molecular biologist who co-discovered the double helix structure of DNA with James Watson, significantly contributing to our understanding of genetic material.

Maurice Wilkins

A New Zealand-born British biochemist who played a crucial role in discovering the structure of DNA, sharing the Nobel Prize with Watson and Crick for his work with X-ray diffraction.

Rosalind Franklin

Used x-ray diffraction to determine the 3D structure and measurements of the DNA molecule. Showed that DNA has a helical structure and nucleotide bases stacked like rungs of a ladder.

Matthew Meselson

Molecular biologist proved that DNA replication is semi-conservative.

Rank Stahl

Helped prove that DNA replicates through semi-conservative.

Tsuneko Okazaki

discovered Okazaki fragments—short sequences of DNA synthesized on the lagging strand during DNA replication.

Reiji Okazaki

discovered Okazaki fragments—short sequences of DNA synthesized on the lagging strand during DNA replication.