Today is DNA Day – 60th anniversary of Watson and Crick's discovery

The modern era of biology was launched 60 years ago today with the publication of a one-page paper in the journal Nature that described the DNA's double helix structure, a revelation of how organisms store biological information and pass it from one generation to the next.

The Nobel Prize winning discovery was published by the biologists James Watson, an American, and Francis Crick, an Englishman. In 2003, Congress declared that "DNA Day" was April 25.

The date is also special because it commemorates the completion of the Human Genome Project — the reference sequence for the 3 billion DNA letters that comprise the human genome — the instruction book for building and maintaining a human being, Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, notes in a blog post today.

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To learn more about the day and the discoveries it celebrates, check out the National Human Genome Research Institute's DNA Day Facebook page. Visitors are encouraged to suggest a "DNAnalogy" that helps explain what DNA is. For example, visitor Tom Wood writes that "DNA is like an architectural blueprint. The blueprint is the plan, but it's never the final result."

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

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The weeks leading up to this year's celebration of the 1953 discovery have been filled with stories about a 60-year-old letter in which biologist Francis Crick told his son about DNA's double helix structure. The letter and Crick's Nobel Prize sold at an auction on April 10 for a record $6 million. 

To learn more about the DNA, check out the stories below:

• New Nobel letters reveal secrets of DNA prize
• Nobel Prize medal for discovery of DNA structure to be sold
• Lessons learned as human genome map turns 10
• Human Genome Project marks 10 years

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News. To learn more about him, visit his website.