ROSALIND FRANKLIN

Rosalind Franklin was born in 1920, in London. Even though

she was a well-born lady she studied for many years to become
a scientist. Her education included attending St. Paul’s Girls’
School (1931-1938), Newnham College (1938,1941), University
of Cambridge (1945) and King’s College in London. Franklin
attended St. Paul’s Girls’ School before studying physical
chemistry at Newnham College, University of Cambridge. After
graduating in 1941, she received a fellowship to conduct
research in physical chemistry at Cambridge. But the advance
of World War II changed her course of action and in 1942 she
gave up her fellowship in order to work for the British Coal
Utilisation Research Association, where she investigated the
physical chemistry of carbon and coal for the war effort.
Nevertheless, she was able to use this research for her doctoral
thesis, and in 1945 she received a doctorate from Cambridge.
From 1947 to 1950 she worked with Jacques Méring at the State
Chemical Laboratory in Paris, studying X-ray
diffraction technology. That work led to her research on the
structural changes caused by the formation of graphite in heated
carbons—work that proved valuable for the coking industry.

In 1951 Franklin joined the Biophysical Laboratory at King’s College, London, as a research fellow.
There she applied X-ray diffraction methods to the study of DNA. When she began her research at
King’s College, very little was known about the chemical makeup or structure of DNA. However,
she soon discovered the density of DNA and, more importantly, established that
the molecule existed in a helical conformation. Her work to make clearer X-ray patterns of DNA
molecules laid the foundation for James Watson and Francis Crick to suggest in 1953 that the
structure of DNA is a double-helix polymer, a spiral consisting of two DNA strands wound around
each other.

James Watson was shown the photo

by Maurice Wilkins of Kings College,
after Raymond Gosling, the author of the
picture, had returned to working under
Wilkins' supervision. Rosalind Franklin did
not know this at the time because she was
leaving King's College London. Randall,
the head of the group, had asked Gosling to
share all his data with Wilkins. Along
with Francis Crick, Watson used
characteristics and features of Photo 51,
together with evidence from multiple other
sources, to develop the chemical model of
the DNA molecule. Their model, and
manuscripts by Wilkins and colleagues, and
Gosling and Franklin, were first published,
together, in 1953, in the same issue of Nature. In 1962, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
was awarded to Watson, Crick and Wilkins. The prize was not awarded to Franklin; she had died
four years earlier, and although there was not yet a rule against posthumous awards, the Nobel
Committee generally does not make posthumous nominations. Likewise, Gosling's work was not
cited by the prize committee.