Rosalind Franklin Reading

Rosalind Franklin, in full Rosalind Elsie Franklin (1920-1958) was a British scientist best known for her contributions to the discovery of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a constituent of chromosomes that serves to encode genetic information. Franklin also contributed new insight on the structure of viruses, helping to lay the foundation for the field of structural virology.

Franklin attended St. Paul’s Girls’ School before studying physical chemistry at Newnham College, University of Cambridge. After graduating in 1941, she received a fellowship to conduct research in physical chemistry at Cambridge. But the advance of World War II changed her course of action: not only did she serve as a London air raid warden, but in 1942 she gave up her fellowship in order to work for the British Coal Utilisation Research Association, where she investigated the physical chemistry of carbon and coal for the war effort. Nevertheless, she was able to use this research for her doctoral thesis, and in 1945 she received a doctorate from Cambridge.

While researching the structure of DNA in 1953, her supervisor gave pictures she had taken of the structure of DNA to other scientists without her permission. Eventually, James Watson and Francis Crick published a paper, using Franklin's pictures to visualize the famous double helix model of DNA.

The new model for how DNA is shaped, allowed scientists to understand how life works and led to many discoveries and inventions, such as DNA testing, cloning, and GMOs.