Rosalind Franklin: Key figure in DNA Structure Discovery
                     ROSALIND FRANKLIN: KEY FIGURE IN DNA 
STRUCTURE DISCOVERY
INTRODUCTION
Rosalind Franklin, in full Rosalind Elsie Franklin, (born July 
25, 1920, London, England—died April 16, 1958, London), 
British scientist best known for her contributions to the 
discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic 
acid (DNA), a constituent of chromosomes that serves to 
encode genetic information. 
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Source: www.britannica.com
A CRUCIAL 
CONTRIBUTION
Rosalind Franklin made a crucial contribution to the 
discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, but some 
would say she got a raw deal. 
Biographer Brenda Maddox called her the "Dark Lady of 
DNA," based on a once disparaging reference to Franklin 
by one of her coworkers. 
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Source: www.nature.com
A CRUCIAL 
CONTRIBUTION 
CONT.
Unfortunately, this negative appellation undermined the 
positive impact of her discovery. Indeed, Franklin is in the 
shadows of science history, for while her work on DNA 
was crucial to the discovery of its structure, her 
contribution to that landmark discovery is little known.
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EDUCATION
At age 18, she enrolled in Newnham Women's College at 
Cambridge University, where she studied physics and 
chemistry. After Cambridge she went to work for the 
British Coal Utilization Research Association where her 
work on the porosity of coal became her Ph.D. thesis, and 
later it would allow her to travel the world as an guest 
speaker.
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EDUCATION 
CONT.
In 1946, Franklin moved to Paris where she perfected her 
skills in X-ray crystallography, which would become her 
life's work. Although she loved the freedom and lifestyle 
of Paris, she returned after four years to London to accept 
a job at King's College.
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A PASSIONATE 
WOMAN
Franklin worked hard and played hard. She was an 
intrepid traveler and avid hiker with a great love of the 
outdoors who enjoyed spirited discussions of science and 
politics. Friends and close colleagues considered Franklin 
a brilliant scientist and a kindhearted woman. 
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AN UNHAPPY 
TIME
A misunderstanding resulted in immediate friction 
between Wilkins and Franklin, and their clashing 
personalities served to deepen the divide. The two were 
to work together on finding the structure of DNA, but their 
conflicts led to them working in relative isolation.
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NOT 
ACKNOWLEDGED
Using Franklin's photograph and their own data, Watson 
and Crick created their famous DNA model. Franklin's 
contribution was not acknowledged, but after her death 
Crick said that her contribution had been critical.
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STRUCTURE OF 
THE TOBACCO 
MOSAIC VIRUS
Franklin moved to Birkbeck College where, ironically, she 
began working on the structure of the tobacco mosaic 
virus, building on research that Watson had done before 
his work on DNA.
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DEATH
During the next few years she did some of the best and 
most important work of her life, and she traveled the 
world talking about coal and virus structure. However, 
just as her career was peaking, it was cut tragically short 
when she died of ovarian cancer at age 37.
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Source: www.nature.com