Rosalind Franklin

Women in Science

Rosalind Franklin July 25, 1920 – April 16, 1958

About 

Franklin was able to photograph the structure of DNA, after mastering the technique of x-ray crystallography, a method used to identify molecular structures, She discovered that DNA had two forms: a dry form known as A and a wet form known as B. Her photographs of the B form were the clearest at the time to successfully show DNA’s helical structure.

Franklin’s photographs of DNA’s B form were taken by her colleague, Maurice Wilkins, without her permission and were published by scientists James Watson and Francis Crick to confirm the structure they had previously proposed.

Did you know?

Watson, Crick, and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 for Physiology or Medicine for their research on DNA based on Franklin’s photographs. No recognition was given to Franklin for her work on the structure of DNA. Franklin died in 1958.