This Woman Played a Key Role in the Discovery of DNA’s Structure & Only Received Ingratitude
Nowadays, the double-helix is widely known as the representation of DNA, even by many who don’t grasp just how DNA works. Until 1953, however, DNA’s structure was a mystery. To the extent that most people associate DNA with any names, what comes to mind are usually James Watson and Francis Crick, the duo who first published a paper that modeled the DNA double-helix structure. Forgotten and ignored is a third name: Rosalind Franklin (1920 – 1958), a British scientist whose data was stolen by Watson and Crick.
In 1951, Franklin began to study DNA. She soon discovered not only its density, but also that it existed in a helical structure. She eventually made X-rays that showed that DNA was structured as a double helix. Ingratitude was all she got. A photo of her work was shown to Watson and Crick, without her knowledge. In 1953, they announced their discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure in a paper that gave rise to modern molecular biology. They eventually conceded that their discovery would have been impossible without Franklin’s data, but didn’t bother putting her name on their paper. She died of ovarian cancer at age 37, her contribution to one of science’s greatest discoveries largely forgotten.