Born: London, England, July 25, 1920
Died: London, England, April 16, 1958
Pioneer Molecular Biologist , Biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer
Franklin in Paris, late 1940s Image credit: Rachel Glaeser/American Society for Microbiology - See more at: http://www.lifesciencesfoundation.org/
Franklin is best known for her work on the X-ray diffraction images of DNA which led to the discovery of the DNA double helix. Her data, according to Francis Crick, were "the data we actually used"to formulate Crick and Watson's 1953 hypothesis regarding the structure of DNA.Franklin's images of X-ray diffraction confirming the helical structure of DNA were shown to Watson without her approval or knowledge.
PHOTO51: Rosalind Franklin produced sharp X-ray crystallographic images that prove crucial to solving the puzzle of the molecular structure of DNA. Photo 51 is the best of the lot. - See more at: http://www.lifesciencesfoundation.org
In mid-1956, while on a work-related trip to the United States, Franklin first began to suspect a health problem—she found she could no longer do up her skirt because of a lump around her abdomen. An operation in September of the same year revealed two tumours in her abdomen. Even while undergoing cancer treatment, Franklin continued to work, and her group continued to produce results - seven papers in 1956 and six more in 1957. In 1957, the group was also working on the polio virus and had obtained funding from the Public Health Service of the National Institutes of Health in the United States for this. Exposure to X-ray radiation is sometimes considered to be a possible factor in her illness.
Twenty five years after the fact, the first clear recitation of Franklin's contribution appeared as it permeated Watson's account, The Double Helix, although it was buried under descriptions of Watson's regard towards Franklin during the period of their work on DNA.
In 2005, the wording on the DNA sculpture (which was donated by James Watson) outside Clare College, Cambridge's Thirkill Court is
a) on the base:
i) "These strands unravel during cell reproduction. Genes are encoded in the sequence of bases." and ii) "The double helix model was supported by the work of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.", as well as
b) on the helices:
i) "The structure of DNA was discovered in 1953 by Francis Crick and James Watson while Watson lived here at Clare." and
ii) "The molecule of DNA has two helical strands that are linked by base pairs Adenine – Thymine or Guanine – Cytosine."
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