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In 1973, Alexander Rich of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology obtained the first atomic-level image of transfer RNA. (This form of ribonucleic acid transfers a particular amino acid to a cell's ribosome during protein synthesis.) At the atomic level of detail, scientists can see all the molecules of a large nucleic acid. Rich's image was a breakthrough, because it showed that it might be possible to get a similar picture of DNA, which could confirm or deny the structure proposed by Watson and Crick 20 years earlier. This image also provided important clues about the role of transfer RNA in protein synthesis.
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