Question

Whos is Rosalind Franklin? Where did she study and what was the time period she worked? what was her experiment and result? what was her contributions to our understanding of DNA

Answer 1

Rosalind Franklin is a British scientist, who has contributed towards the discovery of the molecular structure of the genetic material DNA.

She studied at St. Paul's Girls' School before joining physical chemistry at Newnham College, University of Cambridge. In 1941, she graduated and received a fellowship to conduct her research in physical chemistry. She learned the skill of X-ray crystallography In Paris. In 1951, she joined as a research fellow in the Biophysical Laboratory of King's College, London.

Her experiment was on studying the structure of DNA by applying X-ray diffraction to it. She found the results suggesting a helical structure of DNA containing 2, 3 or 4 co‐axial nucleic acid chains per helical unit, and the phosphate groups are present near the outside.

Her work found clearer X-ray patterns of DNA molecules, which became the foundation for James Watson and Francis Crick to propose the double-helical structure of DNA in 1953. They found a spiral structure consisting of two strands of DNA wound around each other.