Question

Recall the pivotal work of Rosalind Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick. It has been reported that Franklin independently discovered the double helical nature of DNA, but was only mentioned in Watson’s and Crick’s published paper on the hypothesis of DNA structure.

View and read the references below. Based on these and your own research, do you feel that Franklin was given appropriate recognition for her contribution to the discovery of the double helical structure of DNA?

• PBS: Rosalind Franklin's Legacy
• NOVA: DNA Mystery Woman

Answer 1

DNA double helix model is one of the greatest discoveries in the 20^th century.

Back late 1900s, in the more aggravated male dominant society, one can not deny the possibility of the work done by the Rosalind Franklin stolen by James D. Watson and Francis Crick. The basic structure of the DNA comprises of the following-

1. Helical staircase backbone.

2. Antiparallel DNA strands

3. Base pairing

Helical Staircase Backbone

As given the information, she was had all the parameters of helical backbone. As she was the one who figured out that two forms of DNA are present, she must get credit for this, let alone all her other contributions.

Antiparallel DNA Strands

As mentioned that she had already figured out that A form is antiparallel, their is no such disagreement that she would not have done it for B form also.

Base pairing

Base pairing was Watson's idea but looking at her journal and notebooks, it is very clear that she had knowledge of Chargaff's ratio, H-bond, Keto-enol tautomerization. So, it is safe to say that she would have figure out this as well.

According to my research,

At King's College, London, Roselind Franklin obtained image of DNA using X-Ray Crystallography. Raymond Gosling, a graduate student working under the supervision of Franklin helped her with it. This photo is often called Photo 51.The background for the work of the four scientists( Watson, Crick, Wilkins and Franklin) was formed by several scientific breakthroughs:

1. The use of X-ray crystallography in studying organic macromolecules.

2. The evidences supplied by geneticists that it was DNA, not protein, in chromosomes that was responsible for heredity.

3. Chargaff’s experimental finding that there are equal numbers of A and T bases and of G and C bases in DNA.

4. Linus Pauling’s discovery that the molecules of some proteins have helical shapes.

Of the four DNA researchers, only Rosalind Franklin had any degrees in chemistry. She was granted a PhD in physical chemistry also. The knowledge of chemical aspect of this research work which Watson and Crick got from Wilkins(which he got from Franklin) had an undenyable pivotal role for the discovery.

So, in my view,she was a de facto collaborator. Maybe she didn't give them her information deliberately, but whenever they hit a speed breaker, it was her knowledge of chemistry that they got from Wilkins, kept them on track.