Rosalind Franklin Discovery of the Structure of DNA and Other Scientific Contributions

Questions to Ponder What were the roles of women during Franklin’s time (1920 – 1958)? How might this have impacted her work? Would being Jewish at this time present any hardships?

Early Years Born July 25, 1920 Attended St. Paul’s Girls School in London Emphasized preparing graduates for careers Also one of a few schools at the time that offered physics and chemistry to females Graduated Newnham College, Cambridge University 1941 University of Cambridge Logo

Newnham College One of two women’s colleges at Cambridge University About 500 Women in a class of over 5000 Majored in Natural Sciences with a specialty in Physical Chemistry

Post Graduation 1941 – Worked in gas phase chromatography in R.G.W. Norrish’s lab. Became a noted pioneer in photochemistry Went to work for British Coal Utilization Research Association (BCURA) Also served as an air raid warden Made fundamental studies on carbons, coals, and graphite microstructures This work became the basis of her doctorate work in physical chemistry Also learned basics of molecular biology and crystallography She received her PhD from Cambridge University in 1945

Work at BCURA She worked to explain the different microstructures of different carbons and coals Worked to explain why some were more permeable than others Also how heating and carbonization affected a coals permeability Franklin’s work was the first to identify and measure the microstructures within coal. This work made it possible to classify different types of coals and predict their performance. Anthracite BituminousSubbituminousLignite

Paris Laboratoire Central des Services Chimiques de L'Etat Here she learned to analyze carbons using x-ray crystallography (x-ray diffraction analysis) She detailed structures of graphitizing and non- graphitizing This work paved the way for the development of carbon fibers and new heat-resistant materials

X-ray Diffraction Used to determine the arrangement of atoms in a crystal. Executed by shooting a beam of x-rays at a crystal. The atoms in the crystal cause the x-rays to bounce in many different directions. From the intensity of the refractions a crystallographer can make a three dimensional model of the anatomical structure of the crystal.

Back To London 1951 Started work as a research associate in John Randall’s lab at Kings College Here she worked on one of the major scientific challenges of that time. Figuring out the structure and function of DNA Kings College Coat Of Arms

Randall’s Lab Randall wanted Franklin to use the x-ray diffraction techniques that she had learned to produce pictures of DNA Maurice Wilkins, also working on the structure of DNA, misunderstood Franklin’s role in the lab, thinking she was working under him, while Franklin thought she was working independently. Randall’s communication to Franklin did not portray this however. The paperwork said that Franklin and a graduate student, Raymond Gosling, would be working on DNA This mistake was acknowledged, but she never received fair treatment from Wilkins

Meanwhile in Crick and Watson’s Lab… Cambridge – Francis Crick and James Watson were working on a theoretical model of DNA. Working by deduction and model building, not by experimenting and data gathering Their models were not very accurate and had did not represent the true structure of DNA Had models that phosphate groups that make up the backbone of DNA ran along the inside of the molecule

Drama in Science Franklin was beaten in the race to publication of the structure of DNA by Francis Crick and James Watson This is partly due to the conflict between Franklin and Wilkins Wilkins showed Watson a photo of Franklin’s work. While Watson was on a visit to Kings College in 1953

Taken May 1952 Photo 51

Drama Continued After seeing Photo 51 Watson relayed what he had learned to Crick and they published their model in Nature in April anim05.gif anim05.gif Franklin and Gosling revised a draft of their own to appear with Watson and Crick’s, but due to placing of their work it seemed to just support Watson and Crick’s work

Birkbeck College, London Spring 1953 – took a position in the crystallography laboratory Began investigation into the tobacco mosaic virus Published seventeen papers while working at Birkbeck College

Her Final Years Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the fall of 1956 Cancer ran in her family, but it did not help that while working and taking x-ray images she did not wear any sort of protection from the harmful rays During this time she went through many surgeries and treatments. She also, when healthy continued working and traveling. She died April 16, 1958

Nobel Prize Watson and Crick, along with Wilkins shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material”

Summary

EXCEPTION! 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Ralph Steinman He had died just days before the announcement was made that he had won the Nobel Prize The Nobel Assembly had already announced he was the winner before they knew of his death

Additional Info If you would like to learn more, I highly recommend listening to a podcast on Rosalind Franklin done by Stuff You Missed In History Class (howstuffworks.com)

Sources Use this with photo 51 and explain GATC college.html&usg=__FVRuXDlW5tORzbgHUJojx6DKqVU=&h=369&w=1167&sz=64&hl=en&start=9&zoom=1&tbnid=k04DQsGbpDb0oM:&tbnh=79&tbnw=250&ei=JbNCT9n- G4eQ2AXfyoSNCA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DBirkbeck%2BCollege%26tbnh%3D144%26tbnw%3D200%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en- US:official%26sig%3D %26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D687%26tbs%3Dsimg:CAESEgm9k4U_1uMy_1ryF5v8bhD6A- MQ%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=783&sig= &page=1&ved=0CGwQrQMwCA&tx=85&ty=69:en- US:official%26sig%3D %26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D687%26tbs%3Dsimg:CAESEgm9k4U_1uMy_1ryF5v8bhD6A- MQ%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=783&sig= &page=1&ved=0CGwQrQMwCA&tx=85&ty=