Rosalind Franklin: Exploring The Real Structure Of The DNA

Rosalind Franklin helped develop the double-stranded helix structure of DNA, which she is rarely given credit for; while Jane Goodall extensively studied the behavior of apes. Both of these women have been audacious not only for doing great things for science, but also for pushing against the norm of only men being able to make discoveries. Being adventurous propels people into seeking new ideas and finding solutions, fixing thought to be unsolvable

Throughout the early 19th and 20th century, many scientists have studied deoxyribonucleic acids in order to attain higher understanding over the matter. Johann G. Mendel had figured out and understood the laws of heredity. Friedrich Miescher amazingly discovered DNA in 1869, even though scientists did not understand DNA was the genetic material

The discovery of deoxyribonucleic acid, more commonly known as DNA, has been the foundation for much scientific work. This fundamental discovery was credited to James Watson and Francis Crick. Many people believe that another person, Rosalind Franklin, also played a large role in the research. How much did she contribute to the discovery? Why is her name left unrecognized? This paper will discuss her part in the search and whether her name should appear next to Watson's and Crick's as the co-discoverer of DNA.

One of the most important things discovered and understood in biology within science, has been the discovery of the DNA structure. Where DNA is the abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, though it is more known by nearly everyone simply as DNA. The idea behind DNA is that it is a self-replicating material that can be found in all living organisms, especially humans. The structure of DNA was solved in the year 1953, and was solved by four very important scientists who were; Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins (Silverman, 2003). Franklin was seen to contribute to the DNA structure heavily through her own research and discoveries, while it was noted that both Crick and Watson worked together on their discoveries and research. It has been seen that Wilkins contributed less than the other three, but in saying this, he still helped with it and this was made obvious when he also received the Noble Prize. The Noble Price was awarded to Crick, Watson and Wilkins in 1962 for the discovery and solution of the DNA structure (Silverman, 2003). Unfortunately, although Franklin had a big part in the discovery she was not awarded the Noble Prize, as she passed away in the year 1958 (Klug, 1968). If she was still alive at the award ceremony she would have received it alongside the other three. But it should be made clear that she was an important scientist during this discovery, which is seen through what she discovered. These four scientists all contributed

The article “ Rosalind Franklin and the Double Helix” explains Franklin’s journey throughout the years to help her become the famous scientist that she became. From her family educational background, to her work with Watson and Crick, to her role with creating the double helix, she made a huge impact on upcoming female scientists. She even ended her life doing what she enjoyed, and that was for science.

Dr. Franklin attended several private schools were she excelled in all her subjects, at the age of 11, she went to Paul 's girl 's school where she would transcend the average student in science, Latin, and sports. She truly stood out in a time where being a woman would have been an issue in terms of competing or even being taken seriously. Dr. Franklin then went to Cambridge and studied chemistry within the natural sciences Tripos where students must study three disciplines. She then graduated in 1942, where she was accepted in to apprenticeships in her university and worked in various departments of the faculty of chemistry. She had a huge contribution in to researching the void fraction of coal and its relationship to helium 's density. With this research, she was able to find the relationship of the substances being expelled in order of molecular size as heat went up and vice versa. This lead to being able to precisely predict the performance of coals as fuels as well as classify them. As it turns out, her research on coal and helium was also the topic of her Ph.D paper and solidified her doctoral status. Through assistance from her colleagues, she was able to gain a spot in a group of 15 researchers at the laboratoire central des services chimiques de l 'etat in Paris, France. Here she was an x--ray crystallographer, where she was able to identify the atomic and molecular structure of crystals. Dr. Franklin then

the world of science was racing to solve. Franklin was able to deduce from x-rays that DNA was the shape of a

them her images of DNA without her permission. Franklin’s image of DNA was the reason

Francis Crick made an important discovery and theory of DNA with James Watson. His inspiration was Erwin Schrödinger because Mr Schrödinger asked the question, “How can the events of space and time which take place within the living organism be accounted for physics and chemistry?” James Watson and Francis Crick worked together in Cambridge and James Watson convinced Dr Crick that unlocking the structure of DNA would answer the question of Mr Schrödinger and reveal how important DNA is. They did this by using X-Ray diffraction studies of DNA. In 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick developed a molecular model representing known physical and chemical properties of the properties of DNA.

In 1950, Franklin received a three years Turner & Newall Fellowship to work at King's College, London. She began working as a research associate in the biophysics unit, where she used her knowledge in X-ray diffraction on DNA fibers. With X-ray diffraction method, Franklin and her student, Raymond Gosling, made a huge discovery. They discovered that there were two forms of it, dry "A" and a wet "B". Photograph 51, one of their X-ray diffraction pictures of the wet "B", became famous as it was the first clear evidence that show the structure of DNA. By the way, it took more than 100 hours of X-ray shooting from Franklin’s self-created machine to finally take a picture of the

The discovery of the Alpha helix came up when, James Watson was one day alerted that Linus Pauling had partially solved the structure of proteins. Following up on this James found out that, in on of Pauling’s talks he revealed the alpha-helix model. This was a large event in the race for DNA because Linus was the first person to propose something solidly correct about DNA structure. This new event however, did not provide a lot of progress for James’s work because of at the time how he could not tell if this suggestion was correct or not. Later on this information did help them because they took on the helical shape with the addition of x-ray evidence.

Born on July 25, 1920 in Notting Hill, London, to a family that was jewish, but she believed in no such thing. Rosalind Franklin was a very intelligent child; she excelled in school always ahed of where she was supposed to be. By the time Franklin was fifteen she already knew she wanted to be a scientist. She was taught at North London Collegiate school and went to college at Newnham Collage where she studied chemistry. Moving on, Rosalind Franklin, was best know for discovering the structure of DNA, but what most do not know she was did much more. For example, she studied coal utilization, and x-ray diffraction. She actually was the teacher and mentor for Raymond Gosling who created the first visible x-ray photo. With

During that early era, Erwin Chargaff, a chemist from Austria-Hungary, contributed to the knowledge of DNA by establishing the rules of nitrogen base pairs. DNA holds nitrogen bases that bind with each other in a specific way. For example, two bases called adenine and thymine connect only with each other. The other two bases are guanine and cytosine, and they too bind only with each other. This base pair rule led scientists to believe that DNA had a helical structure, which was successfully reported by two biologists, James Watson and Francis Crick. Respectively, the scientists grew up in the U.S. and United Kingdom, and together, they created a lab report that credited them with the discovery and identification of DNA in 1953. Two men from different origins assisted each other to research DNA. Their work was significant to clarify the knowledge of biology, but it could not have been achieved without the discoveries made by preceding scientists. It is human nature for people to learn from each other’s work and achievements, regardless of their origin. Studying the success of others helps people uncover new knowledge, making them successful too. In terms of DNA research, scientists from different countries examined each other’s accomplishments, and one-by-one, they produced new information, bringing new light to biology.

Rosalind Franklins’ work on DNA was just, if not more, essential in discovering the mystery of the secret of life. Her x-ray photo reveals a double helix structure and she also discovered the A and B form of DNA. She worked through adversity of being a female in a boys’ club atmosphere and made remarkable findings that were ultimately stolen. Someone had open the door to discovery after finding an infected molecule could infect a harmless one. She adapted to a new lab with antique technology and made remarkable success. Before her DNA, was thought to be simple. Watson and Crick started with the wrong structure of DNA from

Maurice Wilkins was a chemist who determined that using x-ray crystallography would be useful in the process of studying DNA. James Watson attended a lecture by Wilkins on the subject, which also included ideas about the form of DNA, and Watson soon wanted to be involved. Francis Crick, who was working on his dissertation on the x-ray crystallography of hemoglobin, was approached by Watson, who desired Crick’s help in studying DNA. Watson and Crick made several models of DNA based on the information available at the time. However, it was not until they obtained x-rays taken by Rosalind Franklin that they realised DNA had a double helix shape. These x-rays were obtained without Franklin’s permission and were crucial to the discovery of the shape of DNA. Watson and Crick’s first article on their discoveries regarding the double helix shape appeared in an issue of the journal Nature, along with other articles on DNA by other scientists. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the Noble Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their joint work in the process of determining the shape of DNA in 1962. There was no mention made of Franklin’s contributions in