Rosalind Franklin
was born in 1920 and grew up to be a gifted scientist,
gaining a first class degree from Cambridge in a
time when few women became scientists. She was trained
to make rational decisions based on hard scientific
evidence.
She worked in Paris, becoming expert in x-ray diffraction,
and using this helped to discover the structure
of many compounds.
In 1951, she was asked to work at Kings College,
London, with a team lead by J. T. Randall and Maurice
Wilkins. The team were trying to determine the structure
DNA. The elements that make up DNA were well known
by this time, but in order to understand how the
DNA in a cell copied itself and controlled all the
functions of a cell, scientists needed to find out
how the DNA molecule fitted together. Many teams
of scientists the world over were trying to work
out the structure - it was the great scientific
race of the time.
When Rosalind started work in London her supervisor,
Maurice Wilkins, did not like her very much. When
he first came into the lab, he presumed she was
just a lab aide and not a research scientist. He
also found her very quiet. Ros alind was a very
organised and methodical scientist, and the pictures
she took using x-ray diffraction were the clearest
and best ever seen.
Maurice Wilkins was a friend of a Cambridge scientist
called Francis Crick with whom he shared information
about their current work. James Watson, an American
who was also interested in working on DNA attended
a lecture given by Rosalind about her techniques.
Unfortunately, he was more interested in Rosalind’s
appearance that her work and later wrote “I wondered
how she would look if she took off her glasses and
did something with her hair”.
In May 1952, Rosalind took the best photo of a DNA
molecule ever. At the time she filed it away - wanting
to get more information and repeat results before
she published it.
Wilkins, Watson and Crick frequently met to discuss
their work and the work of other international scientists
on DNA, often in the pub. They did not include Rosalind
in their discussions and she was left to work alone.
Rosalind was very close to unravelling the final
pieces of evidence and work out the structure. Always
cautious, she went over her data many times and
was preparing articles for publication.
One day in early 1953, when Rosalind was not in
the lab, Wilkins showed Watson her beautiful photo
of DNA, and when he saw it instantly realised it
was the key to understanding the structure of DNA.
His instinctive reaction gave him the idea which
brought together all the scientific information
at that time. Using Rosalind’s information he worked
with Crick to make ball and stick models of DNA.
They published their work in 1953 and were hailed
as the discoverers of the structure of DNA. As they
had to publish their work so quickly, and Rosalind
was still writing up her work, they did not credit
her in their article.
Watson and Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were given
the Nobel Prize for their discovery. Rosalind left
the Kings College laboratory, where she had never
been happy or accepted, and eventually died of cancer
caused by the radiation she received when taking
her x-ray photos.
An audio discussion about Rosalind Franklin can
also be found at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2005_44_tue_02.shtml |
