Rosalind Franklin's Life And Accomplishments

Imagine if you made a groundbreaking discovery and your ideas were shared without your consent and then you were not credited for your achievement. Rosalind Franklin, a scientist, made a big revelation that led to the discovery of the structure of DNA. Her coworker shared it with other scientists and she was never credited for her work. Rosalind Franklin was born on July 25, 1920 in London, England in a Jewish household, during the time of flappers and advancement for women. In 1928 a law was passed that allowed women 21 years of age and older to vote in Britain. However, during the 1930s only one-third of women worked outside the house. Rosalind had always been superior at science and by the age of 15 she knew she wanted to be a scientist
when she was older.
In 1938, Rosalind went to Newnham College, Cambridge, to pursue her dream of being a scientist, even though her father would have preferred she went into social working. When Rosalind went to college she left behind her spiritual beliefs in the Jewish faith, as World War II was beginning and in 1939 Britain declared war on Germany. Another affect of the war was that many of her teachers had been recruited to help work for the war. Rosalind’s father did not want her to continue to attend college and wished instead for her to join the war effort, but eventually he relented, and Rosalind continued her education at Newnham College. In 1941, Franklin graduated from Newnham College with a degree in science and Second-Class Honors. Franklin then began research on coal. This was relevant to the war because of the great amount of coal being used as fuel for the war, and she used her research
for her PhD thesis. She received her doctorate from Cambridge for this work in 1945. After she received her doctorate, Rosalind went to Paris to work with Jacques Mering on x-ray diffraction techniques and began using them to study coal’s structure. Rosalind returned to London in 1951 and began a fellowship in biophysics at King’s College. During her fellowship at King’s College, Rosalind faced many obstacles.
Although “the laboratory was unusual for the era: 8 of its 31 researchers were female, some in senior positions”, women were not allowed into the university dining halls or many of the bars that Rosalind’s coworkers frequented after work. When Rosalind began her fellowship, she worked on the structure of DNA. Eventually, she was asked by the head of the lab, John Randall, to work with Maurice Wilkins on DNA. There was a misunderstanding between Wilkins and Franklin on her role. Franklin was Wilkins’s equal, but he believed she was an assistant. This led to hostility in their relationship, and possibly changed the course of her career. Franklin continued her research using the x-ray diffraction techniques she was taught in Paris on DNA and made tremendous discoveries using the technique. First, Rosalind discovered that there are two types of DNA and that the combination of them makes x-rays blurry. On May 2, 1952, Rosalind’s research student, Raymond Gosling, took Photo 51. Photo 51 is an x-ray of B DNA, one of the two kinds, and it became famous because of its clarity and the information about the structure of DNA it revealed to anyone with the right knowledge. This photo was a huge breakthrough, but in 1953 Franklin was planning on leaving the laboratory and Gosling showed Photo 51 to Wilkins. Then, Wilkins showed the x-ray to James Watson, a scientist from Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge who was
working with Francis Crick on the structure of DNA, without Franklin’s consent. With some explanation of the x-ray, Watson and Crick were able to make a correct 3D model of DNA’s structure. Although Watson and Crick’s breakthrough on the structure of DNA was made possible thanks to Franklin’s work, she was not credited when they published their model. Rosalind was also working on determining the structure, but was missing a few key components that her notebooks show she was close to understanding. In March of 1953, Rosalind moved to Birkbeck College to work on the structure of the tobacco mosaic virus and RNA. In 1956, Rosalind found out that she had ovarian cancer. This could have been caused by her predisposition as a Jew and her exposure to radiation while working with x-rays. Rosalind continued to work while she was sick and died on April 16, 1958. Rosalind is remembered for her scientific research, especially her work on DNA, and inspires women today to follow their dreams and work hard to achieve their goals. Rosalind Franklin is a leader in science, and for women, as she made many discoveries in a male dominated field. Rosalind was not persecuted for her actions, and is remembered the way I believe she would want to be, with credit for the advances she made in figuring out the structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin, a scientist and researcher, made discoveries that paved the way for the breakthrough of the structure of DNA. She is an example for women to follow their dreams and to not let obstacles, such as sexism, get in the way of that. Franklin now gets credit for her achievements that she arguably should have received during her lifetime. One may wonder how her career would have been affected had she not been discriminated against based on her gender.