By Eshal Rizvi, Research Team Member
Today, it is no secret that women in STEM have had to deal with their work being stolen and discredited for centuries. The discovery of the three-dimensional double helix shape of DNA serves as a perfect example of this. Whether you are a biology student or not, it is well known that DNA is one of the world's most complex and fundamental molecules. Its insanely intricate and fundamental structure was primarily discovered and studied by none other than Rosalind Franklin, a physical chemist who worked at King's College London in England at the time (Cobb & Comfort, 2023).
At this time in the 1950s, the only known fact about DNA was that it is found in all cells of all organisms. Franklin’s work revolved around the x-ray diffraction image she captured, Photo 51. This image highlighted the helical shape of a DNA molecule, the phosphate backbone connectivity, and the relative size of DNA as well (Cobb & Comfort, 2023). Franklin was not dead set on the idea of the helical shape, so while transferring her work from King’s College London to Birkbeck College, she discussed with colleagues Watson and Crick, who immediately could tell from Photo-51 that the molecule was helical (Cobb & Comfort, 2023).
As Franklin became busy with other aspects of her discovery, Watson and Crick started focusing their research on Franklin’s Photo-51 and concluded that DNA is helical. Franklin’s work was never completely recognized by Watson and Crick, even though it was fundamental to their study. Watson and Crick made their discovery in 1953 and collected the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1962, however, Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958, leading her to never get any credit for her major contributions to the discovery (Cobb & Comfort, 2023).
Thus, today when discussing the discovery of DNA structure, it is vital to mention the work done by Rosalind Franklin, to educate future generations on the life-changing contributions women have made to the fields of STEM.
References
Cobb, M., & Comfort, N. (2023, April 25). What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the
discovery of DNA’s structure. Nature News. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01313-5
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