James Watson: How we discovered DNA

Summary

In this engaging talk, the speaker humorously recounts the discovery of DNA's structure, highlighting the collaboration with Francis Crick and the race against Linus Pauling. The narrative delves into the speaker's early life, influences, and the pivotal role of x-ray crystallography. It also explores the subsequent genetic revolution, including the genetic code's cracking and the impact of DNA research on understanding diseases like cancer and autism, with a hopeful展望 towards future genetic discoveries.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker humorously expresses initial nervousness due to the absence of a podium.
• 🔬 The discovery of DNA's structure is attributed to the collaboration between the speaker and Francis Crick, driven by their shared curiosity and scientific pursuit.
• 📚 The speaker's early interest in biology and evolution was sparked by reading Charles Darwin's works and was further influenced by Erwin Schrodinger's 'What is Life?'
• 🏫 The speaker's educational journey included an unconventional path, entering the University of Chicago after just two years of high school.
• 🌟 The speaker admired Linus Pauling and was inspired to pursue genetics to understand the essence of life at a molecular level.
• 🧬 The race to discover DNA's structure involved a competitive scientific environment, with the speaker and Crick initially proposing an incorrect three-stranded model.
• 🏆 The correct double helix model of DNA was deduced through a combination of x-ray crystallography, model building, and collaboration with other scientists.
• 🤝 The speaker emphasizes the importance of collaboration and being surrounded by experts in different fields to achieve scientific breakthroughs.
• 🧪 Post-DNA structure discovery, the speaker and Crick faced skepticism and a lack of immediate recognition, highlighting the challenges in validating new scientific theories.
• 🧬 The speaker discusses the future of genetic research, including the potential for DNA biopsies, understanding genetic predispositions to diseases like autism and schizophrenia, and the impact of genetic technologies on medicine.

Q & A

What was the speaker's initial reaction to being asked to recount the discovery of DNA's structure?

The speaker expressed feeling slightly bored and scared about recounting the discovery of DNA's structure, as indicated by the phrases 'And it slightly bores me' and 'Well, I thought there would be a podium, so I'm a bit scared.'

Why did the speaker choose to study at the University of Chicago?

The speaker chose the University of Chicago because it allowed students to enroll after only two years of high school, as mentioned in 'So you -- it was fun to get away from high school -- (Laughter) --, because I was very small, and I was no good in sports, or anything like that.'

What was the influence of the book 'What is Life?' by Erwin Schrodinger on the speaker's career path?

The book 'What is Life?' by Erwin Schrodinger inspired the speaker to become a geneticist, as it suggested that the essence of life was information present in chromosomes, which led the speaker to ponder the nature of genetic material, as stated 'And that, of course, had been a question I wanted to know.'

Why did the speaker initially apply to Caltech, and what was the outcome?

The speaker applied to Caltech because of their interest in genetics and their hero, Linus Pauling, but was turned down, as indicated by 'So I applied to Caltech and they turned me down.'

How did Maurice Wilkins' presentation at a meeting in Italy influence the speaker's research direction?

Maurice Wilkins' presentation, which included an x-ray photograph of DNA, convinced the speaker that DNA had a structure and was likely the genetic material, leading the speaker to want to work with Wilkins, as mentioned in 'And there was an unexpected speaker who wasn't on the program, and he talked about DNA.'

What was the significance of the alpha-helix structure proposed by Linus Pauling for the speaker and Francis Crick's work?

Linus Pauling's proposal of the alpha-helix structure for proteins motivated the speaker and Francis Crick to build a model for DNA, as it demonstrated the potential of using models to understand complex structures, as indicated by 'And in doing so, he banished the man out on the right, Sir Lawrence Bragg, who was the Cavendish professor.'

Why did the speaker and Francis Crick initially fail in their first attempt to build a DNA model?

The speaker and Francis Crick's first model was a three-stranded model, which was incorrect and was dismissed by Wilkins and Franklin, as mentioned in 'So we built a three-stranded model. The people from London came up. Wilkins and this collaborator, or possible collaborator, Rosalind Franklin, came up and sort of laughed at our model.'

What was the turning point that led to the correct structure of DNA being discovered?

The turning point was when the speaker and Francis Crick received a manuscript from Linus Pauling's son, which contained an incorrect model, allowing them to realize their own model could be correct, as stated 'And so, one day Peter came in and he said he was Peter Pauling, and he gave me a copy of his father's manuscripts.'

How did the speaker describe the process of discovering the DNA structure?

The speaker described the discovery process as a combination of reading, learning from others' mistakes, and being in the right place at the right time, culminating in a sudden realization of the correct structure, as indicated by 'So we were still in the game, but we were frightened, that somebody at Caltech would tell Linus that he was wrong.'

What was the speaker's reaction to the initial lack of recognition for their work on DNA's structure?

The speaker expressed surprise and disappointment at the lack of immediate recognition, noting that there were very few references to their work in 'Nature' for the first five years, as mentioned in 'And so we were left by ourselves, and trying to do the last part of the trio: how do you --, what does this genetic information do?'

How did the speaker's work on DNA structure influence the development of the biotech industry?

The speaker's work laid the foundation for understanding genetic information, which eventually led to the development of recombinant DNA technology and the biotech industry, as indicated by 'And then, they learned how to read the letters for the code. And, boom, we've, you know, had a biotech industry.'

Outlines

00:00

🧬 DNA Discovery Journey

The speaker humorously addresses the audience, expressing initial nervousness and setting the stage for recounting the discovery of DNA's structure. He recounts his early life, academic background, and the influence of his parents' contrasting religious views leading to his early exposure to atheism and science. His fascination with Charles Darwin and evolution led him to zoology at the University of Chicago. A pivotal moment was reading Erwin Schrodinger's 'What is Life?', which sparked his interest in genetics. Despite early rejections and detours, including a brief foray into biochemistry, he pursued his quest to understand DNA, leading him to Cambridge where he met Francis Crick. Together, they aimed to discover DNA's structure, initially attempting to build a model based on x-ray crystallography data. Their first attempt was met with ridicule, but they persisted, driven by the fear of being scooped by Linus Pauling, who had recently proposed the alpha-helix model for proteins.

05:05

🔬 Cambridge Collaboration and DNA's Structure

The narrative continues with the speaker's arrival at Cambridge, a hub for x-ray crystallography, and his meeting with Francis Crick. Despite their lack of chemistry background, they quickly formed a partnership to solve DNA's structure. Their initial attempt at building a model was a three-stranded helix, which was criticized by Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin. This led to a temporary halt in their model-building efforts. However, the fear of being preempted by Linus Pauling, who was rumored to be working on DNA, spurred them into action. When Pauling's incorrect three-stranded model was published, they confirmed its flaws and received permission to resume model building. With renewed vigor, they utilized their understanding of chemistry and x-ray data to ultimately deduce the correct structure of DNA, which was a double helix with base pairing rules that explained the mechanism of genetic replication.

10:07

🧬 The Aftermath of the DNA Discovery

Following the groundbreaking DNA structure discovery, the speaker reflects on the initial lack of recognition and the slow acceptance by the scientific community. He describes the formation of the RNA Tie Club, a group of scientists interested in deciphering the genetic code, symbolizing the camaraderie and intellectual pursuit of understanding how genetic information is translated into proteins. The speaker also touches on the personal challenges he faced during this period, including a failed engagement. The narrative then shifts to the rapid advancements in molecular biology, leading to the cracking of the genetic code and the emergence of biotechnology. The speaker highlights the importance of DNA as a molecule and its eventual commercial and scientific utility, contrasting their inability to patent the DNA structure with the later patenting of recombinant DNA techniques.

15:08

🧪 Modern Genetic Research and Disease Link

The speaker transitions to discussing modern genetic research, focusing on the use of DNA microarrays to analyze genetic variations associated with diseases like cancer and autism. He explains the significance of detecting genetic mutations and the potential for personalized medicine through 'DNA biopsies.' The speaker's own research on breast cancer is mentioned, driven by available funding, and his personal interest in extending this research to prostate cancer. The discussion then dives into the genetic basis of autism, highlighting the discovery of deletions and duplications in the genome that correlate with the condition. The speaker also speculates on the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, suggesting a link with left-handedness and the need for further research to understand the genetic underpinnings of complex diseases.

20:11

🌐 The Future of Genetic Research

In the final paragraph, the speaker expresses optimism about the future of genetic research, suggesting that with sufficient funding, it would be possible to identify the genes associated with bipolar disorder and other conditions within a short timeframe. The summary ends on a forward-looking note, emphasizing the excitement and potential of genetic research to uncover the mysteries of human health and disease.

Keywords

💡DNA

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) is the molecule that carries genetic information in living organisms. In the video, it is central to the story of how Watson and Crick discovered its double-helix structure. DNA is described as containing the information needed for the replication and functioning of cells, which was the critical finding in their research.

💡X-ray Crystallography

X-ray crystallography is a technique used to determine the atomic structure of a crystal, including biological molecules like DNA. In the video, Watson describes how he and Crick used x-ray crystallographic data, particularly the famous image taken by Rosalind Franklin, to model the structure of DNA.

💡Linus Pauling

Linus Pauling was a renowned chemist who proposed the alpha-helix structure of proteins. In the video, Watson mentions him as an inspiration, but also discusses how Pauling's incorrect model of DNA pushed Watson and Crick to build their own model. Pauling's incorrect three-strand DNA model was a catalyst for Watson and Crick's breakthrough.

💡Base Pairing

Base pairing refers to the specific hydrogen bonds between the nitrogenous bases in DNA: adenine (A) pairs with thymine (T), and guanine (G) pairs with cytosine (C). This discovery was crucial to understanding DNA’s ability to replicate. In the video, Watson highlights how base pairing allowed them to see how genetic information is copied.

💡Model Building

Model building was the method Watson and Crick used to propose the structure of DNA. Instead of relying solely on experimental data, they built physical models of molecules, hypothesizing how DNA might be arranged. The video emphasizes how their approach of building models led them to the correct double-helix structure.

💡Francis Crick

Francis Crick was a physicist and Watson’s collaborator in the discovery of the DNA structure. The video describes their partnership, how Crick’s background in physics contributed to the use of x-ray crystallography, and how together they built the first correct model of DNA.

💡Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin was a chemist and expert in x-ray crystallography. In the video, Watson acknowledges that Franklin’s photograph (Photo 51) was key to identifying DNA's helical structure, although she initially disagreed with Watson and Crick’s early models. Her work was instrumental, though underrecognized at the time.

💡Genetic Information

Genetic information refers to the data encoded in the sequence of nucleotides in DNA. Watson explains in the video how DNA’s sequence of bases (A, T, G, C) carries this information, which is crucial for heredity and cell function. Their discovery showed how this information is copied and passed on.

💡RNA Tie Club

The RNA Tie Club was an informal group of scientists, including Watson and Crick, who were focused on understanding the role of RNA in the genetic code. In the video, Watson mentions this club as a way they coped when progress slowed, and how it represented their ongoing efforts to solve the relationship between DNA, RNA, and proteins.

💡Autism and Genetic Research

Watson discusses how modern genetic research techniques, such as DNA microarrays, are being used to study diseases like autism. He highlights that variations in genetic material, such as missing or duplicated DNA segments, can lead to conditions like autism. This reflects the ongoing application of their foundational DNA work to modern medical research.

Highlights

James Watson humorously expresses his initial apprehension at the absence of a podium.

He recounts the discovery of DNA's structure, highlighting the collaborative efforts with Francis Crick.

Watson shares his early life and education, including his accelerated academic path and his father's influence.

He discusses his shift from zoology to genetics, inspired by Erwin Schrodinger's work on the nature of life.

Watson's pursuit of understanding the gene's molecular structure led him to DNA research.

He describes his initial rejection from Caltech and subsequent studies at Indiana University.

Watson's encounter with Maurice Wilkins and the pivotal role of x-ray crystallography in DNA structure determination.

The story of the failed three-stranded DNA model and the subsequent breakthrough after Linus Pauling's incorrect model.

Watson's reflection on the importance of not being the smartest person in the room for scientific discovery.

He details the rapid realization of the DNA double helix structure and its implications for genetic information.

Watson discusses the冷落 of their work in the scientific community and their focus on the genetic code.

The formation of the RNA Tie Club and the quest to understand the relationship between DNA, RNA, and proteins.

Watson's personal struggles during the period of uncertainty in genetic research.

The eventual cracking of the genetic code and its timeline, leading to a deeper understanding of molecular biology.

Watson's views on the commercial and legal aspects of DNA, including the patenting of recombinant DNA.

He discusses the potential of DNA analysis in medicine, particularly in cancer treatment and prognosis.

Watson's excitement about the future of genetic research, including the search for genes related to autism and schizophrenia.

The significance of genetic variations in understanding the genetic basis of diseases like autism and schizophrenia.

Watson concludes with a hopeful outlook on the future of genetic research and its potential to uncover the causes of complex diseases.

Transcripts

Well, I thought there would be a podium, so I'm a bit scared.

(Laughter)

Chris asked me to tell again how we found the structure of DNA.

And since, you know, I follow his orders, I'll do it.

But it slightly bores me.

(Laughter)

And, you know, I wrote a book. So I'll say something --

(Laughter)

-- I'll say a little about, you know, how the discovery was made,

and why Francis and I found it.

And then, I hope maybe I have at least five minutes to say

what makes me tick now.

In back of me is a picture of me when I was 17.

I was at the University of Chicago, in my third year,

and I was in my third year because the University of Chicago

let you in after two years of high school.

So you -- it was fun to get away from high school -- (Laughter) --

because I was very small, and I was no good in sports,

or anything like that.

But I should say that my background -- my father was, you know,

raised to be an Episcopalian and Republican,

but after one year of college, he became an atheist and a Democrat.

(Laughter)

And my mother was Irish Catholic,

and -- but she didn't take religion too seriously.

And by the age of 11, I was no longer going to Sunday Mass,

and going on birdwatching walks with my father.

So early on, I heard of Charles Darwin.

I guess, you know, he was the big hero.

And, you know, you understand life as it now exists through evolution.

And at the University of Chicago I was a zoology major,

and thought I would end up, you know, if I was bright enough,

maybe getting a Ph.D. from Cornell in ornithology.

Then, in the Chicago paper, there was a review of a book

called "What is Life?" by the great physicist, Schrodinger.

And that, of course, had been a question I wanted to know.

You know, Darwin explained life after it got started,

but what was the essence of life?

And Schrodinger said the essence was information

present in our chromosomes, and it had to be present

on a molecule. I'd never really thought of molecules before.

You know chromosomes, but this was a molecule,

and somehow all the information was probably present

in some digital form. And there was the big question

of, how did you copy the information?

So that was the book. And so, from that moment on,

I wanted to be a geneticist --

understand the gene and, through that, understand life.

So I had, you know, a hero at a distance.

It wasn't a baseball player; it was Linus Pauling.

And so I applied to Caltech and they turned me down.

(Laughter)

So I went to Indiana,

which was actually as good as Caltech in genetics,

and besides, they had a really good basketball team. (Laughter)

So I had a really quite happy life at Indiana.

And it was at Indiana I got the impression

that, you know, the gene was likely to be DNA.

And so when I got my Ph.D., I should go and search for DNA.

So I first went to Copenhagen because I thought, well,

maybe I could become a biochemist,

but I discovered biochemistry was very boring.

It wasn't going anywhere toward, you know, saying what the gene was;

it was just nuclear science. And oh, that's the book, little book.

You can read it in about two hours.

And -- but then I went to a meeting in Italy.

And there was an unexpected speaker who wasn't on the program,

and he talked about DNA.

And this was Maurice Wilkins. He was trained as a physicist,

and after the war he wanted to do biophysics, and he picked DNA

because DNA had been determined at the Rockefeller Institute

to possibly be the genetic molecules on the chromosomes.

Most people believed it was proteins.

But Wilkins, you know, thought DNA was the best bet,

and he showed this x-ray photograph.

Sort of crystalline. So DNA had a structure,

even though it owed it to probably different molecules

carrying different sets of instructions.

So there was something universal about the DNA molecule.

So I wanted to work with him, but he didn't want a former birdwatcher,

and I ended up in Cambridge, England.

So I went to Cambridge,

because it was really the best place in the world then

for x-ray crystallography. And x-ray crystallography is now a subject

in, you know, chemistry departments.

I mean, in those days it was the domain of the physicists.

So the best place for x-ray crystallography

was at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge.

And there I met Francis Crick.

I went there without knowing him. He was 35. I was 23.

And within a day, we had decided that

maybe we could take a shortcut to finding the structure of DNA.

Not solve it like, you know, in rigorous fashion, but build a model,

an electro-model, using some coordinates of, you know,

length, all that sort of stuff from x-ray photographs.

But just ask what the molecule -- how should it fold up?

And the reason for doing so, at the center of this photograph,

is Linus Pauling. About six months before, he proposed

the alpha helical structure for proteins. And in doing so,

he banished the man out on the right,

Sir Lawrence Bragg, who was the Cavendish professor.

This is a photograph several years later,

when Bragg had cause to smile.

He certainly wasn't smiling when I got there,

because he was somewhat humiliated by Pauling getting the alpha helix,

and the Cambridge people failing because they weren't chemists.

And certainly, neither Crick or I were chemists,

so we tried to build a model. And he knew, Francis knew Wilkins.

So Wilkins said he thought it was the helix.

X-ray diagram, he thought was comparable with the helix.

So we built a three-stranded model.

The people from London came up.

Wilkins and this collaborator, or possible collaborator,

Rosalind Franklin, came up and sort of laughed at our model.

They said it was lousy, and it was.

So we were told to build no more models; we were incompetent.

(Laughter)

And so we didn't build any models,

and Francis sort of continued to work on proteins.

And basically, I did nothing. And -- except read.

You know, basically, reading is a good thing; you get facts.

And we kept telling the people in London

that Linus Pauling's going to move on to DNA.

If DNA is that important, Linus will know it.

He'll build a model, and then we're going to be scooped.

And, in fact, he'd written the people in London:

Could he see their x-ray photograph?

And they had the wisdom to say "no." So he didn't have it.

But there was ones in the literature.

Actually, Linus didn't look at them that carefully.

But about, oh, 15 months after I got to Cambridge,

a rumor began to appear from Linus Pauling's son,

who was in Cambridge, that his father was now working on DNA.

And so, one day Peter came in and he said he was Peter Pauling,

and he gave me a copy of his father's manuscripts.

And boy, I was scared because I thought, you know, we may be scooped.

I have nothing to do, no qualifications for anything.

(Laughter)

And so there was the paper, and he proposed a three-stranded structure.

And I read it, and it was just -- it was crap.

(Laughter)

So this was, you know, unexpected from the world's --

(Laughter)

-- and so, it was held together by hydrogen bonds

between phosphate groups.

Well, if the peak pH that cells have is around seven,

those hydrogen bonds couldn't exist.

We rushed over to the chemistry department and said,

"Could Pauling be right?" And Alex Hust said, "No." So we were happy.

(Laughter)

And, you know, we were still in the game, but we were frightened

that somebody at Caltech would tell Linus that he was wrong.

And so Bragg said, "Build models."

And a month after we got the Pauling manuscript --

I should say I took the manuscript to London, and showed the people.

Well, I said, Linus was wrong and that we're still in the game

and that they should immediately start building models.

But Wilkins said "no." Rosalind Franklin was leaving in about two months,

and after she left he would start building models.

And so I came back with that news to Cambridge,

and Bragg said, "Build models."

Well, of course, I wanted to build models.

And there's a picture of Rosalind. She really, you know,

in one sense she was a chemist,

but really she would have been trained --

she didn't know any organic chemistry or quantum chemistry.

She was a crystallographer.

And I think part of the reason she didn't want to build models

was, she wasn't a chemist, whereas Pauling was a chemist.

And so Crick and I, you know, started building models,

and I'd learned a little chemistry, but not enough.

Well, we got the answer on the 28th February '53.

And it was because of a rule, which, to me, is a very good rule:

Never be the brightest person in a room, and we weren't.

We weren't the best chemists in the room.

I went in and showed them a pairing I'd done,

and Jerry Donohue -- he was a chemist -- he said, it's wrong.

You've got -- the hydrogen atoms are in the wrong place.

I just put them down like they were in the books.

He said they were wrong.

So the next day, you know, after I thought, "Well, he might be right."

So I changed the locations, and then we found the base pairing,

and Francis immediately said the chains run in absolute directions.

And we knew we were right.

So it was a pretty, you know, it all happened in about two hours.

From nothing to thing.

And we knew it was big because, you know, if you just put A next to T

and G next to C, you have a copying mechanism.

So we saw how genetic information is carried.

It's the order of the four bases.

So in a sense, it is a sort of digital-type information.

And you copy it by going from strand-separating.

So, you know, if it didn't work this way, you might as well believe it,

because you didn't have any other scheme.

(Laughter)

But that's not the way most scientists think.

Most scientists are really rather dull.

They said, we won't think about it until we know it's right.

But, you know, we thought, well, it's at least 95 percent right or 99 percent right.

So think about it. The next five years,

there were essentially something like five references

to our work in "Nature" -- none.

And so we were left by ourselves,

and trying to do the last part of the trio: how do you --

what does this genetic information do?

It was pretty obvious that it provided the information

to an RNA molecule, and then how do you go from RNA to protein?

For about three years we just -- I tried to solve the structure of RNA.

It didn't yield. It didn't give good x-ray photographs.

I was decidedly unhappy; a girl didn't marry me.

It was really, you know, sort of a shitty time.

(Laughter)

So there's a picture of Francis and I before I met the girl,

so I'm still looking happy.

(Laughter)

But there is what we did when we didn't know

where to go forward: we formed a club and called it the RNA Tie Club.

George Gamow, also a great physicist, he designed the tie.

He was one of the members. The question was:

How do you go from a four-letter code

to the 20-letter code of proteins?

Feynman was a member, and Teller, and friends of Gamow.

But that's the only -- no, we were only photographed twice.

And on both occasions, you know, one of us was missing the tie.

There's Francis up on the upper right,

and Alex Rich -- the M.D.-turned-crystallographer -- is next to me.

This was taken in Cambridge in September of 1955.

And I'm smiling, sort of forced, I think,

because the girl I had, boy, she was gone.

(Laughter)

And so I didn't really get happy until 1960,

because then we found out, basically, you know,

that there are three forms of RNA.

And we knew, basically, DNA provides the information for RNA.

RNA provides the information for protein.

And that let Marshall Nirenberg, you know, take RNA -- synthetic RNA --

put it in a system making protein. He made polyphenylalanine,

polyphenylalanine. So that's the first cracking of the genetic code,

and it was all over by 1966.

So there, that's what Chris wanted me to do, it was --

so what happened since then?

Well, at that time -- I should go back.

When we found the structure of DNA, I gave my first talk

at Cold Spring Harbor. The physicist, Leo Szilard,

he looked at me and said, "Are you going to patent this?"

And -- but he knew patent law, and that we couldn't patent it,

because you couldn't. No use for it.

(Laughter)

And so DNA didn't become a useful molecule,

and the lawyers didn't enter into the equation until 1973,

20 years later, when Boyer and Cohen in San Francisco

and Stanford came up with their method of recombinant DNA,

and Stanford patented it and made a lot of money.

At least they patented something

which, you know, could do useful things.

And then, they learned how to read the letters for the code.

And, boom, we've, you know, had a biotech industry. And,

but we were still a long ways from, you know,

answering a question which sort of dominated my childhood,

which is: How do you nature-nurture?

And so I'll go on. I'm already out of time,

but this is Michael Wigler, a very, very clever mathematician

turned physicist. And he developed a technique

which essentially will let us look at sample DNA

and, eventually, a million spots along it.

There's a chip there, a conventional one. Then there's one

made by a photolithography by a company in Madison

called NimbleGen, which is way ahead of Affymetrix.

And we use their technique.

And what you can do is sort of compare DNA of normal segs versus cancer.

And you can see on the top

that cancers which are bad show insertions or deletions.

So the DNA is really badly mucked up,

whereas if you have a chance of surviving,

the DNA isn't so mucked up.

So we think that this will eventually lead to what we call

"DNA biopsies." Before you get treated for cancer,

you should really look at this technique,

and get a feeling of the face of the enemy.

It's not a -- it's only a partial look, but it's a --

I think it's going to be very, very useful.

So, we started with breast cancer

because there's lots of money for it, no government money.

And now I have a sort of vested interest:

I want to do it for prostate cancer. So, you know,

you aren't treated if it's not dangerous.

But Wigler, besides looking at cancer cells, looked at normal cells,

and made a really sort of surprising observation.

Which is, all of us have about 10 places in our genome

where we've lost a gene or gained another one.

So we're sort of all imperfect. And the question is well,

if we're around here, you know,

these little losses or gains might not be too bad.

But if these deletions or amplifications occurred in the wrong gene,

maybe we'll feel sick.

So the first disease he looked at is autism.

And the reason we looked at autism is we had the money to do it.

Looking at an individual is about 3,000 dollars. And the parent of a child

with Asperger's disease, the high-intelligence autism,

had sent his thing to a conventional company; they didn't do it.

Couldn't do it by conventional genetics, but just scanning it

we began to find genes for autism.

And you can see here, there are a lot of them.

So a lot of autistic kids are autistic

because they just lost a big piece of DNA.

I mean, big piece at the molecular level.

We saw one autistic kid,

about five million bases just missing from one of his chromosomes.

We haven't yet looked at the parents, but the parents probably

don't have that loss, or they wouldn't be parents.

Now, so, our autism study is just beginning. We got three million dollars.

I think it will cost at least 10 to 20 before you'd be in a position

to help parents who've had an autistic child,

or think they may have an autistic child,

and can we spot the difference?

So this same technique should probably look at all.

It's a wonderful way to find genes.

And so, I'll conclude by saying

we've looked at 20 people with schizophrenia.

And we thought we'd probably have to look at several hundred

before we got the picture. But as you can see,

there's seven out of 20 had a change which was very high.

And yet, in the controls there were three.

So what's the meaning of the controls?

Were they crazy also, and we didn't know it?

Or, you know, were they normal? I would guess they're normal.

And what we think in schizophrenia is there are genes of predisposure,

and whether this is one that predisposes --

and then there's only a sub-segment of the population

that's capable of being schizophrenic.

Now, we don't have really any evidence of it,

but I think, to give you a hypothesis, the best guess

is that if you're left-handed, you're prone to schizophrenia.

30 percent of schizophrenic people are left-handed,

and schizophrenia has a very funny genetics,

which means 60 percent of the people are genetically left-handed,

but only half of it showed. I don't have the time to say.

Now, some people who think they're right-handed

are genetically left-handed. OK. I'm just saying that, if you think,

oh, I don't carry a left-handed gene so therefore my, you know,

children won't be at risk of schizophrenia. You might. OK?

(Laughter)

So it's, to me, an extraordinarily exciting time.

We ought to be able to find the gene for bipolar;

there's a relationship.

And if I had enough money, we'd find them all this year.

I thank you.