Laboratory of Chemical Physics, Building 5, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0520, USA. eaton@helix.nih.gov
The 1949 paper by Linus Pauling et al. [Science 110 (1949) 543-548] describing the discovery of sickle cell anemia as the first molecular disease had a major impact on biology and medicine. Inspired by the scholarly works of John Edsall on the history of hemoglobin research, I present a brief retrospective analysis of Pauling's paper. This is followed by some personal recollections of Edsall and Pauling.