On this day in 1967, biochemists at Stanford University held a press conference to announce that they had successfully produced synthetic DNA of a phage called phi X174.
Nobel Laureate Arthur Kornberg and biochemist Mehran Goulian had been working with bacterial viruses (phages), which have shorter DNA strands than bacteria themselves.
The scientists warned reporters at the press conference that they should NOT say that scientists had “created life inside a test tube,” because, outside a larger system, viral DNA is not alive.
However, President Lyndon B. Johnson was giving a speech that same day,
December 14, and as he looked at the carefully-worded Stanford University report, he summed up for his audience, “Some geniuses at Stanford University have created life in the test tube!”
According to the Arthur Kornberg Papers, Kornberg was dismayed the next day when all the newspaper stories about his work began with the President’s statement.
If you read a lot about science, you will often find that reporters and the general public— even Presidents!—get new findings wrong. Use more than one source and reliable sources to get the real scoop.
Learn more about DNA using the interactive DNA Workshop Activity found near the bottom of the screen here.
Make a DNA model; instructions for a paper model can be found here, and a video explaining how to make a pipecleaner model can be found here.
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| Or try making an edible model! |
Translate your name into a DNA sequence according to the code found here.
Make a beaded DNA bracelet using instructions found here.
Lots of great stuff about DNA can be found here and here.
Also on this date:
Anniversary of the first humans to reach South Pole
Anniversary of the first woman becoming the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation
Plan ahead:
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Historical anniversaries in December
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January birthdays
