Researchers Alistair Sponsel and Brian Sutton examined archival notes and images from Franklin and her graduate student Raymond Gosling to correct the historical record. Franklin deliberately produced Photograph 51 as a refined follow-up to Photograph 49, having already noted the probable helical shape of structure B. However, she postponed releasing the breakthrough imagery to prioritize analyzing structure A, which offered richer initial data. During this delay, Maurice Wilkins showed her images of structure B to James Watson, enabling Watson and Francis Crick to model the double helix.
Key points
Archival evidence proves Franklin understood the structural meaning of Photograph 51 rath…: Archival evidence proves Franklin understood the structural meaning of Photograph 51 rather than failing to interpret it.
Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the 1962 Nobel Prize in Medicine after utilizing Fran…: Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the 1962 Nobel Prize in Medicine after utilizing Franklin's research.
Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958, which left her ineligible to share in the Nobel…: Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958, which left her ineligible to share in the Nobel recognition.
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'She knew she had something really important on her hands': Rosalind Franklin figured out DNA's helical structure before Watson and Crick, study suggests
Rosalind Franklin knew about DNA's helical structure ahead of Watson and Crick, a new study of her photos and notes reveals.
Rosalind Franklin, whose photographs of the molecular structure of DNA led to a 1962 Nobel Prize for three other scientists, knew that her famous images held the secret of the double helix, new research suggests.
An examination of archival material reveals that Franklin's Photograph 51, which was taken in May 1952 and later published to show the double-helix structure, was specifically taken for the purpose of publication — not, as some narratives have held, an experimental shot that Franklin believed was insignificant. The new research revealed that Photograph 51 was a new exposure of a sample Franklin had already photographed. She started Photograph 51 the same day she saw that photograph, Photograph 49.
"She took it because she wanted to get a really refined version," said study co-author Alistair Sponsel, a historian of science at the…
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