In which year did Watson and Crick publish their DNA double-helix model? They published it in 1953.
Their landmark paper, “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” appeared in Nature on 25 April 1953. The brief paper proposed that DNA consists of two nucleotide chains wound into a double helix, with specific base pairing between the strands.
The model drew on several lines of evidence, including X-ray diffraction work from Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, data associated with Maurice Wilkins, and chemical information about DNA’s components. The structure immediately suggested how genetic information might be copied: separating the two strands would expose complementary bases that could guide the construction of new partners.
A common mix-up is 1962, the year Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. That prize recognized their work but was not the publication date. The model was published in 1953, alongside related papers by Franklin, Gosling, Wilkins, and colleagues.