Odile Crick Dies at 86

Odile Crick, who made the first published sketch of double-helix structure of DNA, died July 5th in La Jolla, CA, at age 86.  She was the wife of Francis Crick, who together with James Watson discovered the structure of DNA.  Odile Crick's drawing first appeared with her husband's article in the April, 1953, issue of Nature.

Odile Crick was a potter and painter and was famously underwhelmed when her husband came back from the pub one day claiming he had discovered the secret of all life.  The Cricks' home in London, known as the Golden Helix, was legendary for its bohemian parties. Francis Crick and Watson won the Nobel prize for their work on DNA's structure. (More James Watson stories.)