The parasympathetic nervous system activates the relaxation, or rest-and-digest, response. Roughly the opposite of the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system, the relaxation response involves restoration of energy reserves and other peace time functions, such as repair and reproduction.
On this day in 1953, Cambridge University scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announce that they have determined the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule containing human genes.hough DNAâshort for deoxyribonucleic acidâwas discovered in 1869, its crucial role in determining genetic inheritance wasnât demonstrated until 1943. In the early 1950s, Watson and Crick were only two of many scientists working on figuring out the structure of DNA.
The First Discovery of DNA. Few remember the man who discovered the molecule of life three-quarters of a century before Watson and Crick revealed its structure.Ralf Dahm.alf Dahm. Most everybody knows that DNA contains the blueprint for life. The names of Watson and Crick, the first scientists to figure out the structure of DNA in the 1950s, are also widely recognized. But left obscure in history is the name of the chemist who first isolated the DNA molecule itself.