The discovery of the hydrogen bonds in DNA was made by Nottingham postgraduate student, J Michael Creeth in 1947. On Friday 10 November we marked the 70th anniversary of the publication of Dr Creeth’s research with a one-day event attended by 16 members of the Creeth family.

Dr Creeth made the discovery in the Nucleic Acid Laboratory at what was then called University College Nottingham. His research was published in the Journal of the Chemical Society on 1 January 1947.

The discovery paved the way for the double helix model developed by Watson and Crick six years later.

The 70th anniversary event was staged with the support of the Biochemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry and the British Biophysical Society.

It took place in the Trent Building on University Park — the site of the former laboratory where the discovery was made — from 8.30am until 5pm on Friday 10 November.

The event consisted of a series of talks from leading academics in the field and a commemoration led by Dr Creeth’s last post-doctoral research assistant and the University of Nottingham’s Professor Stephen Harding. It concluded with a plaque unveiling by Mrs Patricia Creeth, Dr Creeth’s wife, at the entrance to the Trent Building — the site of the former Nucleic Acid Laboratory where the discovery was made.