(1920-1958)

Rosalind Elsie Franklin

DNA, show your face

child of science
A bit about Rosalind
Rosalind Franklin was born in 1920 in a rich and
influential Jewish family, lived in London, but, contrary
to the status of the family, desperately did not want to
become an ordinary housewife.

Franklin was an outstanding student, she easily passed

the final exams, but she could not get a scientific degree -
it belonged exclusively to male graduates of Cambridge,
it was not given to female graduates. She received the
scientific degree of doctor of philosophy only 4 years
later
The Second World War and the
creation of reliable gas masks

Rosalind made her contribution to the war when she

studied the structure of coal. This discovery helped to
develop improved gas masks that saved the lives of tens
of thousands of soldiers.
 The legendary
"Photograph 51"
Franklin upgraded the X-ray tube to improve the
microfilming machine. Thanks to this, she received more
accurate and clear X-ray images, which could be used to
judge the composition and structure of the substance
being studied
Rosalind experimented with an X-ray tube, improving the
clarity of the images, and eventually obtained a photo of DNA
that clearly showed the structure of the molecule. She had
previously stated that DNA has a spiral structure, and now she
had proof of this. Rosalind made an X-ray of sodium salt
fibers, which gained worldwide fame and went down in
history as "photo 51"
 Or the story of two lost Nobel Prizes

A stolen discovery

In today's world, she would have received all the laurels -

fame, world recognition and publications in the best scientific
journals.

But the reality turned out to be different.

 Killer "x-ray"
Rosalind Franklin died in 1958
at the age of 38 from a
malignant tumor of the ovaries
caused by constant work with
X-rays. She never found out
that Watson and Crick were
"borrowing" her "photo", for
which she most likely paid with
her life
 The dark lady of DNA
In 2002, Brenda Maddox's book "Rosalind Franklin: The
Forgotten Lady of DNA" was published, which covered
previously unknown details of Rosalind Franklin's work and her
involvement in the discovery of the structure of DNA. The
perception of a scientist as "a simple assistant who did little for
science" was shattered forever. Yes, the special data obtained by
her was the minimum, but it was quite enough to build a model
evaluated by the Nobel Committee.
Rosalind
Franklin on
the theater
stage
She will live forever
Now the scientific community is increasingly
beginning to recognize the true significance of
Franklin's work. In 2020, TIME included the
scientist in its list of 100 Women of the Year,
where experts identified the most influential
women from 1920 to 2019. A special edition cover
was created for Franklin.