Rosalind Franklin

                                                 

                                                      (25 July 1920 – 16 April 1958)

Rosalind F was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer who made critical contributions to the understanding of the fine molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA, viruses,coal, and graphite.^[2] Her DNA work achieved the most fame because DNA plays an essential role in cell metabolism andgenetics, and the discovery of its structure helped her co-workers understand how genetic information passes from parents to their offspring.

Franklin is best known for her work on the X-ray diffraction images of DNA, which led to the discovery of the DNA double helix. According to Francis Crick, her data and research were key in determining the structure^[3] and formulating Crick andJames Watson's 1953 model regarding the structure of DNA.^[4] Franklin's images of X-ray diffraction, confirming the helical structure of DNA, were shown to Watson without her approval or knowledge. This image provided valuable insight into the DNA structure, but Franklin's scientific contributions to the discovery of the double helix are often overlooked.^[5]

Unpublished drafts of her papers (written just as she was arranging to leave King's College London) show that she had independently determined the overall B-form of the DNA helix and the location of the phosphate groups on the outside of the structure. Moreover, it was a report of Franklin's that convinced Crick and Watson that the backbones had to be on the outside,^[5] which was crucial since before this both they and Linus Pauling had independently generated non-illuminating models with the chains inside and the bases pointing outwards.^[6] However, her work was published third, in the series of three DNA Nature articles, led by the paper of Watson and Crick which only hinted at her contribution to their hypothesis.^[7] Watson has suggested that Franklin could have ideally been awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Maurice Wilkins.^[8]

After finishing her portion of the work on DNA, Franklin led pioneering work on the tobacco mosaic virus and the polio virus.^[9] She died in 1958 at the age of 37 of ovarian cancer.

Nobel Prize

Franklin was never nominated for a Nobel Prize.^[133][134] She had died in 1958 and was therefore ineligible for nomination to the Nobel Prize in 1962 which was subsequently awarded to Crick, Watson, and Wilkins in that year.^{[9][135][136]} The award was for their body of work on nucleic acids and not exclusively for the discovery of the structure of DNA.^[137] By the time of the award Wilkins had been working on the structure of DNA for more than 10 years, and had done much to confirm the Watson–Crick model.^[138] Crick had been working on the genetic code at Cambridge and Watson had worked on RNA for some years.^[139] Watson has suggested that ideally Wilkins and Franklin would have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.^[8]

Posted by Pushpalata Bhagat