Structure model of DNA by Josef Feldl KG, MünchenDeutsches Museum
When the structure of DNA was discovered in the early 1950s, it provided the foundation for the molecular study of our genetic material. Opening the door to huge breakthroughs in the treatment of diseases, it’s an event that’s gone down in scientific history.
By Fritz GoroLIFE Photo Collection
In 1962, James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery. However, there was a fourth, crucial member of the team who wasn’t recognized – a woman named Rosalind Franklin.
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin was born in London in July 1920. She excelled at school, showing a particular aptitude for math and science. Despite her academic abilities, her father didn’t believe women should be college educated and Franklin had to fight to take up her place at Cambridge.
After graduating, Franklin became a research fellow at the university before going to work for the British Coal Utilisation Research Association. In 1951, she began work as a research associate at King’s College London.
By this point, Franklin was an expert in X-ray crystallography and X-ray diffraction. She used these skills in the study of DNA and soon was able to capture a clear photo of DNA fiber. Taken by her research student Raymond Gosling, the image became known as Photo 51.
By Fritz GoroLIFE Photo Collection
Though we may never know for sure, many believe that Wilkins shared Franklin’s research with Crick and Watson without her knowledge. It was this research, and Photo 51 in particular, that lead to their breakthrough in the discovery of the structure of DNA.
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958, just four years before Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received their Nobel Prize. If she’d lived, she may have received the prize alongside them, but considering how female scientists were treated at the time, it seems unlikely.
Mrs. Katherine G. Johnson at Work NASA Langley (1980-01-03) by NASA , Bob NyeNASA
Learn more about the forgotten women of science.
