Setenta años para la doble hélice del ADN: una breve aproximación histórica, desarrollos actuales y desafíos futuros

Resumen

Dear Sir, Dr Saffie and collaborators state that we face a historical moment, a true genetic revolution, due to advances in genetic sequencing techniques. Studying the genome more efficiently is increasingly possible, opening opportunities for gene therapy for diseases that historically have not had treatment. Dr Ricardo Cruz-Coke, a former Associate Editor of this Journal, mentioned fifty years ago that Medicine’s fundamental problems should be addressed with genetic criteria. Genetics plays a central role in Biology at the molecular and population levels —and it is also prominent in Medicine. However, modern Clinical Genetics, recent Genomics, and, in general, Medical Biotechnology arose only thanks to the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) structure was elucidated in 1953 by James Watson and Francis Crick3. This Letter performs a brief historical approach to the DNA structure discovery and comments on current developments and future challenges in the area when the famous double helix celebrates its Platinum Anniversary.