04/26/2022
In the early 1950s, the race to accurately model DNA was in full swing. At the University of Cambridge, Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick attempted to build a DNA model based on emerging evidence and over a decade of relevant research. Meanwhile, just 50 miles away at King’s College of London, Dr. Rosalind Franklin and Ph.D. candidate Raymond Gosling photographed DNA via X-ray diffraction.
The month of May 1952 would prove to be a turning point in this race, as Franklin and Gosling captured the clearest image of DNA’s structure ever seen up to that point: Photo 51. Consistent with Watson and Crick’s hypothesis, Photo 51 indicated that DNA formed a double helix.
This iconic photo would eventually be shown to Watson and Crick by Dr. Maurice Wilkins, a King’s College of London researcher who worked with Franklin. According to Watson, Photo 51 was the vital clue that enabled him and Crick to build the world’s first accurate model of DNA in 1953. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins were eventually presented with the Nobel Prize in chemistry for successfully identifying DNA’s structure (Franklin had passed away by this time and was unable to be recognized).
The circumstances around how Photo 51 was shared with Watson and Crick remain a point of drama and contention in this story (apparently, Franklin was not made aware that the photo was being shared with the Cambridge researchers). Thankfully, Franklin and Gosling are now well recognized for their monumental contribution to the discovery of DNA’s structure.
Click the link below to learn more about the story of Photo 51!
https://hubs.la/Q018VM7w0
