Her ability to capture clear and detailed X-ray images of carbon compounds impressed many in the scientific community. These early successes laid the foundation for her subsequent work on the molecular structure of biological substances, particularly DNA.
Work on DNA: The Key to Discovery
In 1951, Franklin moved to King’s College London, where she took up a position in the Biophysics Department, working under the supervision of John Randall. It was here that she began her most important work: studying the structure of DNA using X-ray crystallography. At the time, the scientific community was divided on the structure of DNA, with several scientists, including Maurice Wilkins, James Watson, and Francis Crick, trying to decipher its structure.
Franklin’s primary contribution to the discovery of the DNA structure came from her X-ray diffraction photographs, which were critical in revealing the double-helix structure of DNA. Her famous "Photograph 51" – a high-quality X-ray image of DNA – provided the essential clues that led Watson and Crick to their famous model of the DNA molecule. However, this crucial image was shared with Watson and Crick without Franklin’s direct consent, and it was only later that her critical role in the discovery became widely acknowledged. shutdown123