Photo 51 |
Rosalind Franklin |
Between 1953 and 1968 Rosalind Franklin was written out
of DNA history, although she was the X-ray diffraction expert who
recorded the data which allowed Watson and Crick to build the backbone
of their model of DNA as early as March 1953. Although Franklin has
received some significant recognition since Watson's personal (and
sexist) account, "The Double Helix", revealed her role in 1968. The 50th
anniversary celebrations (in the United States) of the discovery of the
double helix structure of DNA have shown that her reputation and
accomplishments have yet to be fully restored and acknowledged. Many
mistakenly assume that to acknowledge Franklin would detract from the
scientific achievements of Watson and Crick. Often,
even those who acknowledge her scientific contributions, still
accept Watson's distorted personal portrayal of this woman, who died at
age 37 in 1958, and was therefore unprotected by libel laws in 1968.
Only a timeline of actual events can distinguish amongst the individual
contributions of the four scientists most closely associated with DNA
structure.
Please save your lunchtime on Tuesday 22nd March to
learn about Rosalind Franklin, an (English) X-ray diffraction expert who
had a significant role in one of the 20th century's greatest scientific
discoveries, but never received credit for it during her short lifetime.
Dr Lynne Osman Elkin, Professor of Biological Sciences at the California
State University at Hayward (now called CSU, East Bay)
is dedicating herself to clarifying Franklin's role in the
discovery of the structure of DNA. Dr Elkin published a lengthy article
on Franklin in "Physics Today" in March 2003 and is currently writing a
biography of her.
To further inform yourself about this topic we invite
you to a showing of the NOVA TV program called "The Secret of Photo 51",
from noon to 1pm on Monday 14th March in the "BeeHive" room in Central
Lab, near the library. Room number G203/214 (on the second floor of Bld
40, Central Lab). |
