Franklin, Rosalind Elsie (1920-1958), was a British chemist famous for her studies of molecules and crystals. Her work helped determine the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a molecule that directs the formation and development of cells and organisms. Franklin also determined the structure of certain viruses, and she advanced crystallography (the study of crystals).
Franklin was born in London on July 25, 1920. She received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Cambridge University in 1945. She then spent several years in Paris studying crystals. Using X-ray diffraction techniques, which show how crystals deflect X rays, Franklin discovered the size, shape, and arrangement of the molecules making up many crystals. In 1951, she moved to London to analyze DNA molecules. She soon produced X-ray diffraction pictures clearly showing that DNA was shaped like a double helix (spiral).
Later in 1951, Franklin presented her theory about the DNA double helix at a seminar attended by the American biologist James D. Watson. Watson and the British biologist Francis H. C. Crick were studying the structure of DNA by building three-dimensional models. Watson and Crick combined Franklin’s work with their own research to produce a complete DNA model. They presented this model, the first ever published, in 1953. But Franklin did not receive credit for her contributions.
Franklin later determined the complex structure of the tobacco mosaic virus, which attacks tobacco plants. She died of cancer on April 16, 1958.
See also DNA; X rays (In crystal research).
