Francis Crick’s Nobel Prize medal is to be sold at auction this April, raising hopes that it will finally be put on public display, after spending the past 40 years in private storage. It has been described as a “momentous event” by Dr Robert Olby, Professor Crick’s biographer, who hopes that the sale will reawaken interest in what Crick himself famously declared the “secret of life”.

The 23 carat gold medal, featuring the head of Alfred Nobel, commemorates the award given in 1962 to Crick and his research partners James Watson and Maurice Wilkins for their discovery of DNA; the essential structure of nucleic acids and the significance of this for the transfer of information in living organisms. The discovery was made during his time as a student at Cambridge’s own Cavendish Laboratory, and the revolutionary findings famously announced in the nearby Eagle Pub exactly sixty years ago, on 28 February 1963. and the revolutionary findings announced in the Eagle pub.

The Crick Family Trust, who have owned the medal since Crick died in 2004, intend to donate a fifth of the proceeds raised to the Francis Crick Foundation, the renamed UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation which will open in 2015 to promote a basic understanding of the biology of human health. The Foundation, founded by four of the world's leading medical research organisations and based in London, seeks to develop better treatment and prevention of “the most significant diseases affecting people today”, with current research projects ranging from cancer to infectious disease. This profit could be significant- early estimates indicate the medal may reach £3 million, and rare scientific collectibles sold in this way have a history of success. Last year, Daniel Fahrenheit’s original thermometer sold for $107,802 at Christie’s.

If the Cambridge student budget won’t stretch that far, there is still hope of getting your hands on something – his medal is being sold alongside a vast array of Crick’s possessions will be on sale, The most exciting lots include the cheque he was awarded as part of his Nobel Prize win and his lab coat, as well as books with handwritten jottings on his other passions, travel and gardening.

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