Francis Crick delivered this lecture at Oregon State University on Linus Pauling Day in Oregon, some six months after Pauling died. Crick begins his talk by recounting his personal experiences of first learning about and then meeting Linus Pauling. He then expounds upon the profound importance of Pauling's legacy as it relates to the study of molecular biology. In so doing, Crick discusses Pauling's research on the molecular structure of proteins including his discovery of the alpha-helix, his studies on protein denaturation and his participation in "the race" for the structure of DNA. He likewise touches upon Pauling's interest in the nature of antibodies and antigens, his conceptualization of sickle cell anemia as a molecular disease and his development, with Emile Zuckerkandl, of "the molecular clock." At its end, Crick concludes that Pauling was, indeed, "one of the founders of molecular biology."
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