Which two scientists described the double helix structure of DNA in 1953?

Watson and Crick described the double helix structure of DNA in 1953.

James Watson and Francis Crick worked at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, where they built a molecular model explaining DNA's shape and copying mechanism. Their landmark paper, “A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” appeared in Nature on April 25, 1953.

The discovery depended on evidence from several scientists. Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling produced crucial X-ray diffraction images, including the famous Photo 51, while Maurice Wilkins, Erwin Chargaff, and others supplied important experimental or chemical insights. Franklin's contributions were not properly credited at the time, which is why some accounts mistakenly replace Watson and Crick with Franklin and Wilkins.

Watson and Crick proposed two antiparallel DNA strands joined by complementary base pairs: adenine with thymine, and cytosine with guanine. Their model explained how genetic information could be stored and copied. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; Franklin had died in 1958 and could not be considered because Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously.