The International Day of DNA is celebrated every year on April 25

The history of DNA discovery begins with the work of Friedrich Michel, who isolated a substance called «nuclein» from the nuclei of white blood cells in the 1880s. It consisted of proteins and DNA. Later, Frederick Griffith with collaborators showed that DNA is the carrier of genetic information.

Three papers were published on the structure of DNA in the issue of Nature journal on April 1953: one on the Rosalind Franklin group, the second on the Maurice Wilkins group, and the third on James Watson and Francis Crick.

James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for discovering the molecular structure of nucleic acids and their significance for the transmission of information in living systems» in 1962.

Today, genetic information is more topical than ever to study in the light of the abrupt change in the environment for almost every human being.