Francis Crick dies at 88
 

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Nobel Prize-winning scientist Francis Crick, who with James Watson discovered the spiral, ``double-helix'' structure of DNA, paving the way for everything from DNA blood tests to genetically engineered tomatoes, has died. He was 88.

Crick died Wednesday at University of California, San Diego, Thornton Hospital, according to Brendolyn Williams, a spokeswoman for the Salk Institute, the research body where Crick worked. Crick had been battling colon cancer.

It was 1953, while working in Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England, that the British-born Crick, 36 at the time, and the American-born Watson, just 24, struck upon the famous double-helix structure - like a twisted ladder - of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.

Not until years after the discovery were Crick and Watson's conclusions about the molecular structure of DNA firmly established. At the time, Crick later said, only a small number of people ``even thought it was interesting.

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His discovery in the future will be regarded as more and more important.

A loss to the world - may he rest in peace.

Such an amazing guy.

I didn't comment on this earlier. I had the privilege of meeting his partner James Watson a few years ago. It was amazing to be in the presence of one of the two men who had made such an enormous contribution to science. I didn't realize that they were so young when they discovered the double helix structure of DNA. Their discovery still holds so much promise for future innovations in science and health. He will truly be missed.

For those of you who are interested, I strongly recommend that you read "The Double Helix" by James Watson. It was a reading assignment for my 10th grade biology class.