jan 1, 1953 - 1953: George Gamow and the “RNA Tie Club”

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Following Watson and Crick's discovery, scientists entered a period of frenzy, in which they rushed to be the first to decipher the genetic code. Theoretical physicist and astronomer George Gamow decided to make the race more interesting - he created an exclusive club known as the “RNA Tie Club”, in which each member would put forward their ideas about how nucleotide bases were transformed into proteins by the body's cells.

He handpicked 20 members - one for each amino acid - and they each wore a tie carrying the symbol of their allocated amino acid. Ironically, the man who was to discover the genetic code, Marshall Nirenberg, was not a member.

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