ROSALIND FRANKLIN

Genetic Timeline:
1952


Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling discovered the helical nature of DNA in 1952. Rosalind Franklin was an English Chemist born July 25 th 1920. One of her lab partners

Raymond Gosling was a Ph.D. graduate working under her supervision at King's college.

. Rosalind Franklin had been using X-ray crystallography, a method that involves bombarding a molecule with x-rays.

Rosalind Franklin’s research proved that the structure of DNA must be helical in nature this was determined by her famous x-ray diffraction image photograph 51. Her contribution towards the development of the DNA model was done without her knowledge of Wilkin’s shared her images with Watson and Crick.

What is X-ray Crystallography? It is a method of determining a structure of a molecule by bombarding them with x-rays. The molecules are in a crystal in a crystal or otherwise ordered form, so when the x-rays bounce of the electron they form a particular unique pattern

Photograph 51: The image was created by using two different fibers of DNA. One strand was highly hydrated in comparison to the other. Her research provided the dimensions of DNA and the structure of DNA which showcased the phosphate backbone on the 'rungs' of the DNA ladder that we know today. The main contribution / that were useful in the creation of Watson and Crick's model of DNA was that DNA was a double helix.