Watson + Crick DNA / LSD / X rays and Serendipity in Science

"So Farewell Then" a recently published memoir by Wendy Cook, Peter Cook's first wife and mother of his children ,is a remarkably balanced book about life with this enormously talented but eternally selfish man, who every day got up and did exactly what he wanted to do, and fuck everyone else.

There are many new, entertaining anecdotes and stories that afford an insight into this mercurial rogue and the band of 60's and 70's troubadors and hangers on - many a name is dropped, along with some fascinating hints about how to make a really good vichysoisse and the correct way to knead a Mallorcan bread bun.

One story that strikes and resonates concerns Francis Crick, co-inventor of the structure of DNA with James Watson (see pic) - Wendy's lifelong friend Ros Myers, from her days at the Slade had "taken up" with a haematologist at Cambridge Dr John Smith. As a result

...." there were "many friends" and outrageous parties often at the house of Francis Crick, whose ground breaking work on DNA,, with James Watson, had set him apart from other mortals. It was interesting to witness such a brilliant man behaving in such a puerile manner at social gatherings, for example often looking up the au pairs skirt."

In researching some of the history of drugs and the activities of Richard Kemp and his girl friend Christine Bott, whose pioneering development of domestic scale LSD manufacturing was so rudely interrupted in Operation Janet a curious claim was unearthed about Francis Crick.

In an article in the Mail on Sunday on August 8th 2004, just after Francis Crick died Alun Rees published an article in which he relates that Nobel Prize genius Crick was high on LSD when he discovered the secret of life , which is a fascinating footnote note on Francis Crick's role in the history of Richard Kemp and his magical chemistry set.

Francis Crick was, (like many at the time) intrigued by the books of Aldous Huxley, The Doors Of Perception and Heaven And Hell which detailed his experiments with botanical hallucinogens such as , mescaline the active ingredietnt of peyote (both tedious and worth reading only for their historical inetrest) . Crick helped found Soma (the universal state provided sedative in Huxley's Brave New World ) and signed a famous letter to The Times in 1967 calling for a reform in the drugs laws.

Apparently Crick was familiar with American writer David Solomon, a supposed friend of East Coast hippie LSD guru Timothy Leary who had come to Britain in 1967 on a quest to discover a method for manufacturing pure THC, the active ingredient of cannabis. This threw together Solomon and Richard Kemp a clever biochemist and thus was founded the original illicit LSD manufacturing business.

Rees explains that ....

"Dick Kemp told me he met Francis Crick at Cambridge. Crick had told him that some Cambridge academics used LSD in tiny amounts as a thinking tool, to liberate them from preconceptions and let their genius wander freely to new ideas. Crick told him he had perceived the double-helix shape while on LSD."

Rees goes on to explain that after hearing this from Kemp he visited Crick at his home, Golden Helix, in Cambridge."He listened with rapt, amused attention to what I told him about the role of LSD in his Nobel Prize-winning discovery. He gave no intimation of surprise. When I had finished, he said: Print a word of it and I'll sue."

It is worth remembering that these supposed routine uses of LSD were taking place in 1952/3 the top secret CIA 10 year MKULTRA studies were approved by the DCI on April 13, 1953 .

Rosalind Franklin and her X rays

The truth of course is a litle more mundane. Briefly, Maurice Wilkins was working in John Randall's laboratory at King's College, London and was joined in working on X ray diffraction crystalography of deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA by Rosalind Franklin.

Whilst colleagues, Wilkins behaved in a (then) typically male authoritarian way MCP or male chauvinistic pig - a phrase that seems to have died) and Franklin resented this ( she was also an elite, wealthy, Francophilic Jewish, proto- feminist given to theatrical tantrums), so there was a degree of friction between them. Although disputed it appears that Wilkins showed Watson one of Franklin's crystallographic portraits of DNA. (above)

Sight of these X rays , which J. D. Bernal called , "the most beautiful X-ray photographs of any substance ever taken." were seized on by both Watson and Crick who fitted the jigsaw puzzle together from the prior work of many others, not least Erwin Chargaff who identifed the equivalence of the the Purine and Pyrmdine bases, Linus Pauling's work (his son Paul worked with them_ and of course Avery whose work had shown that it was DNA that transmitted genes in vivo, proven in the famous "Waring blender experiement" of Hershey & Chase.
In an unorthodox fashion their stunning and original insight was published as a letter in Nature in 1953 - "A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" by J D Watson and F H C Crick. Nature 1953, 171:737-738 .. and the rest as they say is history.

Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958 at the age of 37, 4 years later Crick, Watson and Wilkins shared the Nobel prize for their work on the double helix structure of DNA.

Did Crick resolve the puzzle of DNA when under a drug induced haze ? We will never know, it is a fanciful theory but one which can never be resolved. What is certain is that the structure of this most fascinating molecule relied upon Watson's sneak preview of Rosalind Franklin's X-ray - No 51.

What is also certain is that the structure would have been resolved others then working in the field - what is also certain is that those two dined out on it for the rest of their lives, so perhaps ading a soupcon of LSD made the telling of the tale a little more exciting -- and thereby contradicting Einstein's remark, "that a scientist makes science `the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way the peace and security which he cannot find in the whirlpool of personal experience."

PS It is interesting to note that Franlin's subsequent elucidation of the structure of the yellow Tobacco Mosaic Virus Her elucidation of the structure of the tobacco mosaic virus could have resulted in a Nobel prize but her junior collaborator on the project , Aaron Klug, did and he cited Franklin as his greatest mentor in his Nobel-prize speech . In accepting their Nobel prize, neither Watson nor Crick mentioned their indebtedness to Rosalind Franklin.

"Rosalind Franklin was a very intelligent woman, but she really had no particular reason for believing that DNA was particularly important. She was trained in physical chemistry. I don't think she'd ever spend any length of time with people who thought DNA was important. And she certainly didn't talk to Maurice [Wilkins] or to John Randall, then the professor at Kings".

James Watson quoted in Nature, 302, 21 (April 1983): 653. April 1983.

There's a myth which is, you know, that Francis and I basically stole the structure from the people at King's. I was shown Rosalind Franklin's x-ray photograph and, Whooo! that was a helix, and a month later we had the structure, and Wilkins should never have shown me the thing.

I didn't go into the drawer and steal it, it was shown to me, and I was told the dimensions, a repeat of 34 angstroms, so, you know, I knew roughtly what it meant and, uh, but it was that the Franklin photograph was the key event. It was, psychologically, it mobilised us..."

James Watson, Center for Genomic Research Inauguration, Harvard. September 30, 1999.

"One 35 years old, with the looks of a fading racing tout. . . an incessant falsetto, with occasional nuggets gleaming in the turbid stream of prattle. The other, quite undeveloped. . . a grin, more sly than sheepish. . . a gawky young figure." Crick and Watson, he said, looked like "a variety act." Erwin Chargaff


Further reading
Rosalind Franklin and DNA by Anne Sayre

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA James Watson

The Third Man of the Double Helix: The Autobiography of Maurice Wilkins

Rosalind Franklin : The Dark Lady of DNA B renda Maddox

Picture of the famous Franklin X ray : Sodium deoxyribose nucleate from calf thymus, Structure B, Photo 51, taken by Rosalind E. Franklin and R.G. Gosling. Linus Pauling's holographic annotations are to the right of the photo. May 2, 1952

Linus Pauling and the Race For DNA - A documentary history.
A superb presentation of the history (if at time absurdly melodramatic) of the way the structure of DNA was finally resolved.Original papers, letters.

Lesley Molseed - DNA samples found in Wetherby - a litle bit of history

A report from the Rochdale Observer of 5/2/03 provides an interesting insight into the forthcoming case against Ronald Castree for the murder of Lesley Molseed.

Detective Chief Superintendent Max Mclean, was appointed to head the investigation after Stefan Kisko had been acquitted.(He led the enquiry on the 2001 race Riots in Bradford and appeared on Crimewatch in a fruitless appeal in the still unsolved case of the 19-year-old Bradford prostitute Becky Hall in 2001, he said "he was dismayed by public indifference.")

He said: "I asked the forensic team if they had any material left from the original murder investigation. We uncovered a semen sample and from this we managed to acquire a DNA profile." (Presumably this was due to the introduction in the late 90's of the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) based profiling to replace the less sensitive and slower RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) analysis) . Apparently the sample was recovered from a criminal evidence laboratory in Wetherby, Yorkshire.

"...pioneering new techniques to test semen recovered at the scene" had provided a DNA profile and had proved to be effective in dismissing convicted paedophile Raymond Hewlett - the man named in a 1997 book as the murderer.

The Rochdale Observer went on to explain that the West Yorkshire Police are launching a major appeal in a bid to finally trap her killer and bring him to justice after 27 years and that this appeal featured on the BBC Crimewatch programme on the day of the report ... and solicited people to convey any suspicions they may have to the Police .....

Mr Mclean urged Rochdale's townsfolk to come forward with names of people they suspect murdered Lesley.

"It may be that someone has harboured a suspicion for 27 years that a friend, relative, or acquaintance could have killed this little girl. We now have the ability, through the development of scientific methods to eliminate these people once and for all. It is an extremely simple procedure, which involves us taking a mouth swab. We have already eliminated 300 people and are continuing to work through our list of suspects."

Mr Mclean even wants the name of suspects who are now dead.

"It could be a husband, boyfriend, partner, or brother. There are simple scientific tests we can undertake to determine whether they are responsible for her death. I want to stress to people that it is impossible for Stefan Kiszko to have been involved in this crime. Get the image out of your mind. He was not the killer."

A contact telephone number was provided for the incident room at Halifax police station.

Which is all very curious, because we know that 3 West Yorkshire Police officers were charged with destroying evidence - amongst that evidence was semen - which would have eliminated Stefan Kisko because he had a medical condition that prevented him producing semen.

No doubt this sample the forensic team "uncovered" will be the subject of considerable interest when the trial of Ronald Castree starts in Bradford on October 22nd and which is expected to last 9 weeks. It is after all essential that a chain of custody documents must accompany all specimens at all times for legal cases. These documents should maintain the chronological history of the evidence and include all pertinent identity information.... it would be extremely unhelpful if this was not available and provable in court.

Castree is being defended by Jonathan Rose QC who co-wrote “Innocents” – The definitive account of the case of Stefan Kiszko, which was published in 1997 by Fourth Estate Ltd

(link)For more information about the case and how in 1994 DCI Richard (Dick) Holland, CS Dibb and forensic scientist Doctor Ronald Outteridge were formally charged with suppressing evidence in 1994. It was alleged they had destroyed the forensic evidenceand also withheld statements from the defence, which proved the whereabouts of Stefan on the day of the murder.

DNA and the UK Forensic Service

The latest available figures show that UK National DNA Database (NDNAD) contain 3.4 million people, over 585,000 of them taken from children aged under 16 and over 50,000 profiles from samples taken from the crime scene - it is the largest such database in the world.

Comparisons are not made of whole DNA profiles but most Forensic Laboratories, now use a standardised SGM Plus (Second Generation Multiplex) system. This system, comprising 11 loci (discrete areas of DNA - D3 (D3S1358), VWA (HUMVWF31/A), D16 (D16S539), D2 (D2S1338), D8 (D8S1179), D21 (D21S11), D18 (D18S51), D19 (D19S433), THO (HUMTHO1), FGA (HUMFIBRA), includes a gender marker (AMELX, - which is surprisingly a gene that controls the development of tooth enamel Amelogenin) and is said to have has a discrimination power of greater than 1 in 1,000 million. SGM Plus encompasses four Interpol loci. These core loci are used by most European countries to facilitate the possible exchange of information between jurisdictions. So far INTERPOL, the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), GITAD (Grupo Iberoamericano de Trabajo en Análisis de DNA) and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) use this system although there is a move by the US manufacturers of the system Promega to move to 15 locii for improved sensitivity.

In England and Wales, the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 allowed DNA to be retained from people charged with an offence, even if they were subsequently acquitted. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 later allowed DNA to be taken on arrest, rather than on charge. Since April 2004, when this law came into force, anyone arrested in England and Wales on suspicion of involvement in any recordable offence (all except the most minor offences) has their DNA sample taken and permanently stored in the NDNAD; officially the UK National Criminal Intelligence DNA Database , whether or not they are subsequently charged or convicted. In practice both the collection and permanent retention of DNA is now routine for all people arrested and taken to a police station in England or Wales, from the age of ten, and removal is being restricted to ‘exceptional’ cases. Link to report about Europe wide standardisation and intelligence / information sharing.

If interested GeneWatch UK is a not-for-profit group that monitors developments in genetic technologies and has many concerns about the Police National DNA Database. This is another interesting site about the accuracy of DNA profiling in the UK by the Police / Forensic Service.

Molseed - DNA breakthrough identifies the real killer ?

At noon on Oct 5, 1975, 11 year old Lesley Molseed slipped out to buy some bread for her mum, near her home in Delamere Road, Turf Hill, Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Her body was found 48 hours later at Rishworth Moor by the A672 Oldham to Halifax Road in Ripponden Yorkshire.

She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed 12 times.The killer masturbated over her fully clothed body.

The first policeman on the crime scene was from Greater Manchester Police, he went on to be the senior officer on the Stalker enquiry in Northern Ireland. The body was actually just inside the territory of the Yorkshire Police and the enquiry was handed over to them.

Stefan Kiszko of Turf Hill, Rochdale was convicted for life on 28th JUly 1976, at the end of an 8 day trial. Jurors return a 10-2 majority verdict after five hours of deliberation. Stefan spent 16 years in prison. He was released in 1992 when it became known that evidence that would have proved his innocence was witheld from the defence. He died of a heart attack the followng year at his mother's home aged 44; his mother, who had waged a long campaign to prove her son's innocence, died six months later.

Stefan Kiszko was born with the XYY syndrome, in which the male has an extra Y chromosome. This is a condition in which their are only slight slight - growth abnormalities and minor behavioural characteristics. A "behavioural abnormalities" of Stefan's was jotting down the registration numbers of a car if he had been annoyed by the driver. This led, in part, to his wrongful conviction - he had at some point prior to the murder unwittingly jotted down the number of a car seen near the scene of the crime. (A white car with red markings of some vague description was seen at the scene but nobody witnessed the attack.) It was argued that only someone at the scene could have known the number of this car... As part of his condition Stefan Kiszko would have been physically incapable producing spermatazoa found on the victim - a fact known at a very early stage by the Police medical advisors. This was never disclosed to his defence...

Stefan Kiszko confessed to the murder after two days of questioning by detectives, but later complained that the confession had been bullied out of him.

In 1994 DCI Richard (Dick) Holland, CS Dibb and orensic scientist Doctor Ronald Outteridge were formally charged with suppressing evidence in 1994 it was alleged they had destroyed the forensic evidence which could have proved the innocence of Stefan and the guilt of the real murderer.They also withheld statements from the defence, which proved the whereabouts of Stefan on the day of the murder.

In 1994 Holland and Outteridge were formally charged with suppressing evidence. On May 1st 1995 Magistrate Jane Hayward prevented the case from proceeding citing that because of the death of Jack Dibb the two remaining defendants could not receive a fair trial (it was called "abuse of process"). ( Holland and Outteridge both blamed the deceased CS Dibb for any wrong doing )

Statements made by three 10 year old girls who said that he had indecently exposed himself to them just days before the murder were a major factor in convincing the jury at the trial. When these women were re interviewed again in 1992 they all confessed to making the allegations up.

Today Ronald Castree 53, a former market trader from Brandon Crescent, Shaw, Nr. Oldham appeared in Calderdale Migistrates Court, Halifax. He was charged with the murder of Lesley Molseed in 1975 - at that time he is said to have been driving a taxi.He was remanded in custody to appear before Bradford Crown Court on November 14.

At the time of the murder of Lesley, Ronald Castree's first wife Beverley had just had Jason, the first of three boys. The marriage failed and Castree married Karen Curtin with 5 children 2 years ago.

Mr Castree is a well-known trader on Oldham Market. Until 18 months ago he also ran a shop, Arcadia Comics, in nearby Ashton-under-Lyne. Since then, his business has switched almost solely to dealings through eBay.

On 5th February 2003 despite the previous destruction of forensic evidence .Detectives in Halifax announce they have uncovered new DNA evidence left at the crime scene and seek the public's help.

Unconfirmed reports say that Castree had been arrested 9 months ago on an unconnected matter and DNA taken at the time has been the basis of identifying him as the murderer of Lesley Molseed. The Sun with it's remarkable access to official Police evidence reports "It is alleged to have shown a “direct hit” with a sample found at the scene of Lesley’s murder."
tp://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006510440,00.html

The Daily Mail reports "Yesterday retired Detective Superintendent Trevor * Wilkinson, 59, who uncovered the evidence that was to clear him, said: "You never give up hope that there will be a breakthrough.

"It is just a shame that someone had to spend 16 years in jail."

* Innocents: How Justice Failed Stefan Kiszko and Lesley Molseed
Jonathan Rose, Steve Panter and Trevor Wilkinson
Publisher: Fourth Estate, London, 1997 - ISBN: 1857024028 (Out of Print)
=============================================
Update 14/11/06

See comments and go here for posting by Lord Patel on the case of John Humble whose DNA was found on the "lost" evidence of the Yorkshire Ripper.Thursday October 20th 2005
"Hoaxer's Tapes / Letters lost - Man arrested and charged"

Of interest in any "stitch up " theory of John Humble go to this posting of October 24th 2005 John Humble Stitch-Up - The Great Hoaxer stitch-up of John Humble.
John Humble, an innocent man becomes another victim of the Ripper to enable
the police to say the letters were indeed a hoax.

Signed Noel O'Gara author of
http://www.yorkshireripper.co.uk/hyper/ripper.htm and
http://www.yorkshireripper.com/index.htm

The West Yorkshire Press release issued on Tuesday March 21st 2006 after Humble's trial was concluded , states very baldly.....

The envelope from which the DNA sample was obtained had been retained in the possession of the Forensic Science Service.

It also intriguingly notes that ....

West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team (HMET)was formed earlier this year (i.e 2006). It comprises 200 detectives, led by eight experienced Senior Investigating Officers, with individual specialisms including counter terrorism, kidnap, serial murder and cold case murder reviews.

Working from locations across West Yorkshire, HMET investigates the most serious of crimes and has been heavily involved in the West Yorkshire part of the investigation into the July 7th suicide bombings in London.

Humble at his trial in January initially pleaded not guilty and then changed his plea. At his appeal against sentence he again accepted guilt and sought mitigation because of that, but his sentence was left unchanged at 8 years. Reuters