Rosalind Franklin #WHM20 #WomensHistoryMonth #WomenInSTEM
Today we celebrate the life and work of DNA research scientist Rosalind Franklin, whose work was overlooked at the time.
Learn more about her in this article from New Scientist.
Rosalind Franklin is known for making a significant contribution to the discovery of the DNA double helix. In recent years, her story has become famous as one of a woman whose scientific work was overlooked during her lifetime.
According to the history books – or even a quick google search – credit for the 1953 discovery of DNA’s structure goes to James Watson and Francis Crick. The two shared the Nobel prize for their discovery in 1962, along with Franklin’s former colleague Maurice Wilkins. But the following year, Crick himself admitted in a letter that “the data which really helped us to obtain the structure was mainly obtained by Rosalind Franklin.”
So how did Franklin get so close to scientific glory, only to be written out of history?