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Rosalind Franklin's Research Led to Discovery of DNA Structure

   Deborah Block  March 29, 2011
   British scientist Rosalind Franklin

   British scientist Rosalind Franklin

   Many  people  have never heard of British scientist Rosalind Franklin.
   Her  research  helped  solve the mystery of the structure of DNA - the
   building blocks of life.  In 1952, Franklin took X-Ray photographs of
   a  molecule  that  showed DNA contains two strands wrapped around each
   other  in a double helix, like a twisted ladder.  The clearest image,
   known  as  photograph 51, enabled other scientists to build a model of
   DNA, and they received credit for it.

   In   Washington,   a  play  at  the  Jewish  Community  Center  called
   âPhotograph  51â depicts Franklin as the only woman doing DNA research
   then in a manâs world.  The play coincides with women's history month
   in the US.

   Itâs  a magical moment in âPhotograph 51.â Scientist Rosalind Franklin
   sees the double helix of a DNA molecule.
   Franklin  was  a  chemist  with  a  doctorate from Britain's Cambridge
   University.  It was the early 1950s.  She was in her 30s when she was
   working on DNA research.    Â
   The play shows Franklin working tirelessly and mostly independently on
   her  research.   She  often clashed with male colleagues who she felt
   treated her dismissively.
   âShe  wasnât  called Dr. Franklin, she was called Miss Franklin.  She
   wasnât  allowed  to  eat  in  the senior common room; all the men were
   allowed  to  eat in the senior common room.  That absolutely crippled
   her  and  created an environment where she didnât trust the people she
   was working with,â said Daniella Topol, the director of the play.
   Franklin  tried  to  figure out how the double helix worked but wasnât
   able  to.  Without  her  permission,   Franklinâs  co-worker, Maurice
   Wilkins,  secretly  showed  her  photos  to  American  scientist James
   Watson.   He  and  Francis  Crick, his British research partner, were
   trying  to  build  a  DNA  model.  When Watson saw the photographs, he
   realized  that DNA is a double-stranded helix and the two were able to
   complete the model.
   Franklin learned about their breakthrough from her colleague Wilkins.
   In  1962,  Crick,  Watson,  and  Wilkins  received  the Nobel Prize in
   Medicine.  It  was  four years after Franklin had died from cancer, at
   the age of 37.  The award is given only to people who are alive.

   During  the  ceremony, no credit was given to Franklin. And Watson has
   largely  dismissed  her  role.  But  Crick, who died in 2004, has said
   Franklin was only âtwo steps awayâ from solving the DNA puzzle.

   Topol hopes people who see the play will not only learn about Franklin
   but  will  have a better understanding of her. âI want people to think
   about everything Rosalind Franklin accomplished, and how much more she
   could have accomplished had she not been isolated and marginalized and
   misunderstood and discriminated against,â she said.

   Franklin  was  a  pioneer, whose valuable DNA photograph helped change
   the world of genetics forever.

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