Today is the 60th anniversary of the publication in Nature of three papers on the structure of DNA, by James Watson and Francis Crick, and by teams led by my late father, Maurice Wilkins, and Rosalind Franklin (Nature 171, 737–738; 738–740 and 740–741; 1953). It is easy to forget that, in April 1953, the few scientists who had even heard of DNA mostly dismissed it as unimportant.

My father wrote to Watson and Crick at the time: “There is no good grousing — I think it's a very exciting notion and who the hell got it isn't what matters.” I doubt that anyone connected with that letter would have believed how much “grousing” about 'winners' and 'losers' the next 60 years would bring.

The structure of the DNA double helix emerged from the twin strands of the University of Cambridge's conceptual model and King's College London's experimental rigour. Both contributions were vital to its precision and validation.

The four different figures in the 'race for DNA' shared a common concern about the effect of science, including their own, on humankind. None could have expected that their work would have such an impact. Let's hope the end result of this “very exciting notion”, 60 years young, is that we'll all be the winners.