Rosalind Franklin Research Paper

519 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Everything about rosalind franklin essay

Rosalind Elsie Franklin was an English chemist and x-ray crystallographer who made immense contributions to the understanding of the structure of the DNA- the double helix. She faced both skepticism and criticism studying molecular biology when most women her age would take up domestic duties. Nevertheless, she continued her research in the face of adversity. Rosalind Franklin’s tenacity, sheer will power, and overall perseverance in a male dominated field made her a driving force in the field of molecular biology.

Born on July 25, 1920, in Notting Hill, London, Franklin showed exemplary academic abilities early on, both in linguistics and arithmetic’s. After securing a scholarship to the Newnham College in 1938, she studied chemistry with …show more content…

She and her student, Raymond Gosling used their x-ray diffraction techniques to create pictures of the DNA strands. What they found was that DNA came in two forms: “A” dry form and a “B” wet form. After 100 hours of x-ray exposure and adjustments, the “B” form proved evidence of the DNA’s molecular structure. Unfortunately, personality conflicts and prejudices between her and colleague Maurice Wilkins proved fatal when Wilkins disclosed her photographs without her knowledge to competing scientists, James Watsons and Francis Crick at Cambridge in 1953. Upon seeing the photos, Watson’s jaw dropped and went to work quickly disseminating the information in Watson and Crick’s famous model of the DNA merely three months later. The pair received a Nobel Prize in 1962. On April 10, Franklin went to see Watson and Crick’s crude model to which she replied, “It’s very pretty, but how are they going to prove it?” Being an experimental physicist, Franklin was much more concerned in gathering reliable evidence. Afterwards, she moved on to study the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), a type of RNA that was covered in protein helices, furthering supporting her original findings in DNA structure. On 1957, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and for ten months, continued her research until the age of

Show More
Related

  • The Competition for the Secret of Life in James D. Watson’s Novel the Double Helix

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this case, the reward for winning the “competition” is so significant that better opportunities are overlooked and some are left without the aid they need. When Watson and Crick ask Rosalind Franklin’s opinion on their model of DNA, the result they are looking for is far from what they had hoped: “Rosy did not give a hoot about the priority of...

    Read More

  • Book Review Of Rosalind Franklin And DNA

    2207 Words  | 5 Pages

    The book Rosalind Franklin and DNA is a biography of Rosalind Franklin written by a British journalist and close friend of hers, Anne Sayre to reveal the true personality of Rosalind Franklin in contradiction to the fallacious character portrayed by James Watson in his personal account of The Double Helix. This book was undertaken to refute Franklin’s distorted portrait from abnormal feminist into rational, perfectionist and talented ‘women’ scientist. She begins by introducing her strong background, curious childhood, dedicated education, generous nature and most importantly how she was brought up in a favorable environment of distinctive Angelo-Jewish family, who identified and cultivated her talents and developed her in a person with full capacity for commitment. In this book, despite admiring the geniuses of Watson in depicting and picking out small information, connecting points and the kind of abilities he possessed was perfectly factitive with Crick that Rosalind and Gosling lacked however, she constantly tries to put the Rosalind’s side of story in picture which she believes was minimized in The Double Helix by Watson and correct her character that distorted in public eye.

    Read More

  • Watson And Crick's Unzipping The Secret Of Life

    2684 Words  | 6 Pages

    How Watson and Crick’s Discovery of the Structure of DNA Influenced American Industries and Scientific Development in the United States

    Read More

  • Rosalyn Sussman Yalow

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...or instance, hepatitis C virus), biological molecules (such as cyclic adenosine monophosphate), and Human Immunodeficiency (HIV) virus (Bauman et. al. 2011). Rosalyn had went farther in the world of science than anyone including her self thought was possible (Bauman et. al. 2011). Rosayln and Berson changed history, altered the way science was perceived and their time, and how today we see and research science.

    Read More

  • The Creation Of DNA By James Watson And Francis Crick

    1586 Words  | 4 Pages

    In April of 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published a game changing paper. It would blow the mind of the scientific community and reshape the entire landscape of science. DNA, fully knows as Deoxyribonucleic Acid is the molecule that all genes are made of. Though it is a relatively new term with regard to the age of science, the story of DNA and the path to its discovery covers a much broader timeframe and had many more contributors than James Watson and Francis Crick. After reading the paper the audience should have a better understanding of what DNA is, the most important experiments that contributed to its ultimate discovery and the names and contributions of the lesser-known scientists that helped Watson and Crick turn their idea

    Read More

  • Solving the Structure of DNA

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first and primary contribution to solving the DNA structure was the relationship of Crick and Watson. Without their teamwork and determination, another scientist would have discovered the structure before them. One of Crick’s bigger contributions was discovering the gene is self-replicating. After talking with John Griffith, Crick came up with the idea that the gene is self-replicating, meaning the gene has the ability “to be exactly copied when the chromosome number doubles during cell division”(126). With further discussion with Griffith, Francis believed that DNA replication involved specific attractive forces between the flat surfaces of the bases (128). One of Watson’s major contributions was after seeing the B form of DNA by Franklin, Watson knew that the structure of DNA was two-chained and that led to the building of the model of DNA (171). Also through research, Watson became aware that adenine and thymine pair together and are held by two hydrogen bonds that were identical in shape to the guanine and cytosine pair held together by at least two hydrogen bonds (194). This discovery showed that the two chains of DNA are complementary to each other. With these individual contributions coming together, Watson and Crick successfully were able to piece together the structure of DNA.

    Read More

  • Rosalind Franklin

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    	X-ray crystallography helped determined the three dimensional structure of DNA when Franklin returned to England. She became the first person to find the molecule¡¯s sugar-phosphate backbone while working with a team of scientists at King¡¯s College in London. Unfortunately, leadership misunderstandings and personality conflicts depreciated Franklin¡¯s effectivness in the laboratory. Maurice Wilkins, the laboratory¡¯s second in command, returned from a vacation expecting Franklin to work under him. Franklin came to the laboratory with the understanding that she would be researching alone. While Franklin was direct and decisive, Wilkins tended to be alluding and passive-aggressive. As Franklin made further advances in DNA research, Wilkins secretly shared her findings with the famous duo of Watson and Crick, who were then working at Cambridge. Franklin¡¯s discoveries fueled their research machine, allowing them to advance beyond others in the field. They would eventually publish on DNA structure in 1953. Due to discriminatory procedures at King¡¯s College, Franklin eventually left to become the lead researcher at London¡¯s Birbeck College--upon agreeing not to work on DNA. She furthered her studies in coal and made significant advances in virology. Franklin died in 1958 of ovarian cancer. She lived 37 monumentally significant years.

    Read More

  • Marie Sklodowska Biography

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1911, she won a second Noble Prize in chemistry, "in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element." Some biographers said this was unfair and they thought she had already been awarded for the discoveries of radium and polonium by her first Noble Prize even though it wasn’t stated specifically.

    Read More

  • Race for the Double Helix: An Analysis

    2257 Words  | 5 Pages

    Rosalind Franklin: Seeing a woman as a scientist during this time is somewhat rare, so the fact that she has taken up this profession show that she is persistent, dedicated, and smart. The only problem is that she is undervalued because of her gender. She is also very quiet and reserved because she’s in a different country.

    Read More

  • What Is Watson's Thesis For The Double Helix

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    Arguably one of the most influential (and outspoken) scientists of the twentieth century, James D. Watson played a significant role in revolutionizing the field of genetics and molecular biology. In his personal narrative, The Double Helix, Watson recounted his journey toward discovery--a discovery which he and many other prominent figures took to ultimately unravel the mysterious structure of DNA. Some of the viewpoints mentioned in his narrative are representative of beliefs many people shared during that time period as well as today. Specifically, I believe Watson’s views on Rosalind Franklin and competition within the scientific community

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Gender In Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    Benjamin Franklin has been without a doubt one of the most relevant individuals in US history. His autobiography gives us a brief but detailed summary of what his life was like and how society worked in the eighteen century. This autobiography gives us many details of how the colonies where and offers and an overall image of the development of British North America which later turned into the United States. Due to the fact that this book was originally written for Franklin's son, the book concentrates in personal information and has very little information about other topics. However, there are some topics that can be extracted from his writings; one of them is gender. Even though, Franklin never talks openly about gender, we can observe how in his writing these roles are clearly assigned. In this paper, we will analyze how Benjamin's Franklin autobiography showcases the importance of gender in the early eighteenth century. Gender can be analyzed in Franklins book by looking at different topics. This given to men and women by society can be seen in the workspace, in the education of each individual, and in the family and family structure.

    Read More

  • The Double Helix

    1858 Words  | 4 Pages

    "The discovery of the structure by Crick and Watson, with all its biological implications, has been one of the major scientific events of this century." (Bragg, The Double Helix, p1) In the story of The Double Helix, James Watson tells of the road that led to the discovery of life's basic building block-DNA. This autobiography gives insight into science and the workings within a professional research laboratory that few members of society will ever be able to experience. It also gives the reader an idea of the reality of life for one scientist and how he struggled with the problem of DNA. However, the author's style is marked by his lack of objectivity and inclusion of many biased opinions and personal prejudices.

    Read More

  • The Double Helix Sparknotes

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Double Helix tells a tale of fierce competition, perseverance, and scientific innovation as we follow James Watson and his cohort Francis Crick on their quest to discover the secret to life, the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid. Although already fascinated with DNA, Watson struggled with finding chemistry exciting enough to learn it in depth. He had studied birds in college and thereby managed to avoid any formal chemistry or physics courses. As he later pursued a PhD in biochemistry, he realized he could put it off no longer and attempted to learn organic chemistry at Indiana University. However, after a mishap in the lab, he was encouraged instead to study nucleic acid chemistry with Herman Kalckar in Copenhagen. There, his mind strayed from his work and he began doing unauthorized research in the lab of Ole Maaløe, studying phages. Herman stopped teaching Watson after going through a divorce with his wife, and sent Watson off to a scientific conference in Naples. Although he was bored by many of the lectures, Maurice Wilkins’s talk about X-ray diffraction fascinated Watson. He was struck by an X-ray diffraction picture of DNA that Maurice presented and was determined to study the acid. He later got to know more about Maurice’s colleague, Rosalind Franklin, who was proud, stubborn, and very difficult to work with. Watson greatly admired the lecture given by the renowned Linus Pauling, who had discovered the structure of the alpha-helix and was thought of as the leader in DNA research in the scientific world.

    Read More

  • Overview of the Importance of DNA

    1575 Words  | 4 Pages

    Simply put, DNA contains the instructions needed for an organism to develop, survive, and reproduce. The discovery and use of DNA has seen many changes and made great progress over many years. James Watson was a pioneer molecular biologist who is credited, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, with discovering the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. The three won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962 for their work (Bagley, 2013). Scientists use the term “double helix” to describe DNA’s winding, two-stranded chemical structure.

    Read More

  • Essay On Anatomy And Physiology

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...f the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 that was extremely influential for future researchers. They determined that DNA was a double helix structure composed of base pairings, with a sugar phosphate backbone. This model explained how “genes can duplicate themselves [and] would eventually lead to our current understanding of many things, from genetic disease to genetic engineering” (Salem).

    Read More

More about Rosalind Franklin Research Paper

Open Document