10:00:00 Shot
of Photo 51 Showing Type B DNA
Original
Models of DNA Structure
Still
photo of Dr Rosalind Franklin circa 1953
Still
photo of Prof. Maurice Wilkins circa 1953 and tilt down
Guide Voice: Is this the
most important scientific photo ever taken? The X-ray diffraction
photograph which led to the discovery of the structure of DNA, in
1953, is one of the most significant scientific discoveries in the
story of humanity, a discovery that scientists Rosalind Franklin
and Maurice Wilkins of King's College London and their teams played
a key part in.
00:27 Detail
from 50th Event Poster
Exterior
King's College London
Interior
Main Foyer and DNA Carpet, tilt up
Various
shots, display cabinets
Guide Voice: This year has
seen a worldwide focus on the events leading to the discovery of
DNA and, in a rare public appearance, the surviving members of
King's College original DNA research team were telling the story of
the discovery in their own words at a special event held at the
College to mark the 50th anniversary of this immensely significant
discovery.
01:00 Interior,
Great Hall, King's College
Wide,
Prof. Raymond Gosling & Prof Herbert Wilson
Close
as above
Tableau,
original equipment
c.u.
Nature publication
Detail
of names in Nature publication
Guide Voice: Professor
Raymond Gosling and Professor Herbert Wilson, both PhD students at
King's in the early 1950s worked with Rosalind Franklin and Maurice
Wilkins, their names appearing on the Nature papers describing the
structure of DNA, published alongside that of Crick and Watson, the
names most commonly associated with the discovery, in April
1953.
01:24 cu
early camera
cu
original DNA jars
Photo
51
Interior
Great Hall, tilt down from screen
Cutaway,
James Watson in audience
Cutaway,
Maurice Wilkes in audience
General
audience cutaway
Guide Voice: It was the
King's College research which led to the now famous Photo 51, the
image that gave away the double helix structure, producing
biomolecular science, and much of the understanding of the world we
take for granted today.
01:45 cu
Commemorative T-Shirt and tilt up
GV
Pan of Foyer to Great Hall, King's College
Exterior,
Stem Cell Research Building
GVs
Dr Stephen Minger and staff at work
Guide Voice: As the world
notes the 50th anniversary of that publication a lot is being made
of the history of DNA research - but at King's the focus is very
much on the future. Without the discovery of the structure of DNA,
stem-cell research would not be possible and the UK Government has
vowed that Great Britain will become a leader in the field.
02:08 cu
Stem Cells - 1 year old Muscle Stem Cells still growing.
Guide Voice: Stem Cell
research, based on an understanding of the structure of DNA and the
subsequent mechanisms of gene transcription, is the natural
progression of the earlier work done at Kings College and holds out
significant promise for the future.
02:23 SOT: Dr Stephen Minger,
Lecturer in The Centre For Neuroscience Research at King's College,
London and Head of the Stem Cell Research Laboratory -
"Well I think everything that we know about stem cells -
their specialised properties, the genes that control stem cell
proliferation and self renewal and differentiation, ultimately
depends on our understanding of DNA. I don't think anybody, fifty
years ago, when the structure of DNA was, was first isolated,
really understood how fundamentally crucial that, that would be. I
mean our ability now to manipulate any stem cell population and to,
and to think about using them therapeutically is absolutely crucial
in our understanding of which genes these cells express and whether
they express them appropriately. So they're intimately linked. You
couldn't have stem cell research without DNA".
03:06 Laboratory
GVs
c.u.
Muscle Stem Cells
Guide Voice: King's College
hold one of only two existing UK licences to carry out human
stem-cell research and, while this research is still in the very
early stages its potential is obvious.
03:19 SOT: Dr Stephen Minger
- "The big promise of human embryonic stem cell
research is that we can grow up vast quantities of these cells, and
if we can then in turn, learn how to push them down these different
pathways, such that we can take those cells and turn them into beta
cells from the pancreas that make insulin, or dopamine cells for
Parkinson's patients, you could begin to transplant very large
numbers of patients."
03:39 Set
up shots - Prof. Paul Sharpe
Guide Voice: Professor Paul
Sharpe is pioneering research into the genetic control of tooth
development. His aim, eventually, is to be able to replace missing
teeth, and he echo's Dr Minger's view of the potential for Stem
Cell research.
03:52 SOT Prof. Paul Sharpe, Head of
the Dept. of Craniofacial Biology and Director of Research at the
Dental Institute, King's College London - "I
think that the future is in these kind of areas, of applying first
of genome information to, to medicine and, and dentistry of course
as well, the basic, er the kind of identification of disease
processes, er multi-factorial diseases in particular. And then the,
the utilisation of that information in an en-en.. a tissue
engineering biological context to create tissues, to repair
tissues, um and to correct disease processes."
04:23 4
Shot, l to r, Professor Raymond Gosling, Prof. Herbert Wilson,
Prof. James Watson, Prof.
Maurice
Wilkes.
DNA
Structure
Guide Voice: It's certain
that whatever the future may hold for biological and medical
research - it will owe its successes to the teams of scientists who
laboured to discover the structure of DNA.
04:40 End
