Sven Furberg

Norwegian biologist and professor
  • Birkbeck College London (PhD)

[1]

Known for
  • DNA structure[1]
[2] The Structure of cytidineAwards
  • Fridtjof Nansen Award of Excellence (1966)
Scientific careerFields
  • Crystallography
  • Molecular biology
  • Chemistry
Institutions
  • University of Oslo
  • University of Montevideo
  • University of Bergen
ThesisAn X-ray Study of Some Nucleosides and Nucleotides. (1949)

Sven Verner Furberg (16 April 1920 – 15 March 1983) was a Norwegian chemist, biologist, and crystallographer who first proposed a helical structure for DNA. Furberg suggested a single-chain helical structure in 1949, which he referred to as a "zig-zag" chain.[2][3] In 1952, his structure of DNA was published in the journal Acta Chemica Scandinavica.[4] In this paper, he deduced that DNA forms a helix from the crystal structure and density value of nucleosides and other related molecules.[4] A year later (in 1953), this paper was cited by James Watson and Francis Crick in Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Sven Furberg First Proposes a Helical Structure for DNA : History of Information".
  2. ^ a b Furberg, Sven Verner. An X-ray study of some nucleosides and nucleotides. Diss. University of London, 1949.
  3. ^ Olby, R. C. (1994) The path to the double helix : the discovery of DNA. Enlarged edition. New York : London, Dover Publications ; Constable and Company.
  4. ^ a b Furberg, Sven. "On the structure of nucleic acids." Acta chem. scand 6 (1952): 634-640.
  5. ^ Watson, J. D. & Crick, F. H. C. (1953) Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. Nature. 171 (4356), 737.


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