James Watson and Francis Crick are widely remembered for discovering DNA's double-helix structure – with the publication of their landmark paper, on 25 April 1953, now celebrated each year as National DNA Day in the USA.
Yet the Swiss researcher who first identified the molecule itself has largely fallen into obscurity.
Friedrich Miescher used white blood cells isolated from pus to examine the molecules that form the basis of life. In 1871, he published a study reporting the identification of a new cellular substance with intriguing properties, which he named 'nuclein'.
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