1953

Events

• The first successful open-heart surgery on a human, utilizing a cardiopulmonary bypass pump ("heart-lung machine"), is performed in Philadelphia.

• The DNA double helix is first formally described.

• A paper is published under the name "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid".
  This work is often ranked as one of the most dramatic biological discoveries of the 20th century.

Timeline
1952	1953	1954