Rosalind Franklin: Life through X-ray Crystallography and DNA

Rosalind Franklin, the woman who contributed to scientist of the future understanding DNA structure. Scientist such as James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins benefited greatly from her findings. They received a Nobel Prize based off of her findings. Rosalind was also an X-ray crystallographer. X-ray crystallography is used for looking at atomic and molecular structures of crystal. This work contributed to her discovering the structure of DNA. Franklin was born in London, England, July 25, 1925. She attended an all girls school, which was one of the only schools that offered physics and chemistry. Clearly Franklin excelled at chemistry, as well as all of her other academics. In 1938, franklin attended Newnham College in Cambridge and graduated in 1941. In her graduate year she started a fellowship but in 1942 she started working at the British Coal Utilization Research Association. During this time she studies the porosity of coals, and compared it to the density of Helium. She found that through the pores of coal, substances were expelled in molecular sizes as the temperature increased. These findings helped with coals performance for fuel purposes. Franklin’s work with coals helped with the earning of her doctorate in physical chemistry that she earned in 1945 from Cambridge University. From 1947-1950 Franklin worked in Paris at Laboratoire Central des Services Chimiques de l’Etat. Here Franklin met a scientist named Jaques Mering. He taught her X-ray diffraction and how to use and apply it to X-ray crystallography. Using what Mering taught her, she applied this to her study of coals, which she had done at BCURA. She made many publishings of her works which lead to more works on the chemistry and physics of coal. In 1951 Franklin moved onto Kings College London. Here she joined as John Randall’s research associate in the Medical Research Councils Biophysics unit. Franklin work at King’s was eventful with her findings and her colleagues. Before Franklin had began working under Randall, Randall had two men by the name of Maurice Wilkins and Raymond Gosling. Wilkins and Gosling were researching X-ray diffraction analysis of DNA for about a year before Franklin arrived. Randall had later assigned Franklin to take lead on their research with Gosling as her research assistant, and had not informed Wilkins. This made the work environment somewhat tense. Franklin and Gosling began to work on the structure of DNA using Franklin’s background in X-ray diffraction. Franklin used Wilkins tools and refined them to work for what she needed. Franklin and Gosling discovered two forms of DNA. DNA, at high humidity or wet, the fiber is long and thin. When the DNA is dry it is short and fat. They named the two different forms of DNA A(dry) and DNA B(wet). Randall had Wilkins research further on DNA B and Franklin DNA A. In 1953 Franklin came to the conclusion that DNA A was also in a helix structure, as well as DNA B. Franklin then began to write drafts of manuscripts which would include the backbone of DNA. Because of the conflict between Wilkins and Franklin, Wilkins showed Watson and Crick the photo the Franklin had taken. The is called Photo 51, which J.D. Bernal called it "the most beautiful X-ray photographs of any substance ever taken.”. Watson and Crick saw the photo and took advantage immediately, and got published before Franklin. Which ended up in them winning the Nobel prize for it in 1962. Franklin and Wilkins also got published in Nature magazine, but it was after Watson and Crick so to many it looked like their work was supporting the findings of Watson and Crick. In 1953 Franklin left King’s college and moved onto Birkbeck College. Here Franklin continued to use X-ray crystallography to study tobacco mosaic virus and its structure. She also studied the structure of RNA and the polio virus. In her publications about TMV she showed that the virus particles were all the same, which contradicted a prominent virologist. Her studies there paved the way for structural virology. Franklin continued to study viruses and RNA until her death April 16, 1958 at the age of 37. Rosalind Franklin was a brilliant and talented mind. She more than excelled at chemistry and her works with X-Ray crystallography and she paved the way for many scientist to continue researching the structure of DNA and for virologist and their finding in the structures of many viruses. Although Franklin may have not gotten credit for her discovery of the structure of DNA being a helix, many believe that she is the one that should receive credit. Watson, Crick and Wilkins received the Nobel Prize for their findings of DNA all based on the photo that Franklin had taken. With what started with working with the pores of coal, to discovering the structure of DNA, and finally making discoveries about polio and TMV, if she had not died at such a young age, there would be more discoveries and credit given to her findings. As a chemist she laid the ground work for many scientist of the future and today.