Crick later admitted that Franklin was two steps away from realizing the correct structure in the spring of By that time, Franklin had arranged to transfer her fellowship to J. Bernal's crystallography laboratory at Birkbeck College, where she turned her attention to the structure of plant viruses, particularly tobacco mosaic virus TMV.
Working with a team that included future Nobelist Aaron Klug, Franklin made meticulous x-ray diffraction photos of the viruses. Her analyses of the diffraction patterns revealed, among other things, that TMV's genetic material RNA was embedded in the inner wall of its protective protein shell. This work involved collaboration with many other virus researchers, particularly in the United States. Franklin made two lengthy visits there, in and , and established a network of contacts all over the country, including Robley Williams, Barry Commoner, and Wendell Stanley.
Her expertise in virus structures was recognized by the Royal Institution in , when its director honored her with a request to construct large-scale models of rod-shaped and spherical viruses for the Brussels World's Fair Science Exhibition. In the fall of Franklin was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. For the next 18 months she underwent surgeries and other treatments; she had several periods of remission, during which she continued working in her lab and seeking funding for her research team.
She died in London on April 16, Throughout her year career, Franklin published steadily: 19 articles on coals and carbons, 5 on DNA, and 21 on viruses. During her last few years, she received increasing numbers of invitations to speak at conferences all over the world, and it is likely that her virus work would have earned awards and other professional recognition, had she lived to continue it.
Franklin's scientific achievements, both in coal chemistry and virus structure research were considerable. Her peers in those fields acknowledged this during her life and after her death. But it is her role in the discovery of DNA structure that has garnered the most public attention. None gave Franklin credit for her contributions at that time. Franklin's work on DNA may have remained a quiet footnote in that story had Watson not caricatured her in his memoir, The Double Helix.
There he presented Franklin as "Rosy," a bad-tempered, arrogant bluestocking who jealously guarded her data from colleagues, even though she was not competent to interpret it.
His book proved very popular, even though many of those featured in the story--including Crick, Wilkins, and Linus Pauling--protested Watson's treatment of Franklin, as did many reviewers. In , Franklin's friend Anne Sayre published a biography in angry rebuttal to Watson's account, and Franklin's role in the discovery became better known. Numerous articles and several documentaries have attempted to highlight her part in "the race for the double helix," often casting her as a feminist martyr, cheated of a Nobel prize both by misogynist colleagues and by her early death.
However, as her second biographer, Brenda Maddox, has noted, this too is caricature, and unfairly obscures both a brilliant scientific career and Franklin herself. Article 10 NOV Article 03 NOV Article 27 OCT News 05 NOV University of Washington UW. Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.
Advanced search. Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature. You have full access to this article via your institution. Download PDF. References 1.
PubMed Article Google Scholar 2. PubMed Article Google Scholar 3. Google Scholar 4. PubMed Article Google Scholar 5. Latest on: History Caltech confronted its racist past. Close banner Close. Email address Sign up. Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing. Even if asked what her most important discovery was, Rosalind Franklin would never suggest this now legendary image of deoxyribonucleic acid — instead, she would point to her achievements in carbon research that contributed to improvements to gas mask technology in the Second World War, or the progress she made in virus research.
She also went on to publish numerous articles on the structure of the tobacco mosaic virus during her time at Birkbeck College. Together with her colleague Aaron Klug, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry himself in , she contributed to identifying the structure of the plant virus that afflicted not only tobacco, but also paprika and tomatoes. Born July 25, in London, Rosalind Franklin was the daughter of a Jewish banking family who placed high value on the education of their two daughters and three sons.
As a result, the girls received support from a very early stage. At 17, Rosalind Franklin passed the Cambridge entrance examination, gaining admission to the prestigious women-only Newnham College.
However, though women could study there, they were unable to gain the same degrees as their male counterparts. Rosalind Franklin seized her opportunity and made a reputation for herself through her zeal and tenacity. The same was not true for Aaron Klug.
She had been his role model, he said, and he expressed his belief that she would also have been awarded the Nobel Prize, if only she had lived long enough and been able to continue her research. My father inspired me to be a scientist. He has a deep love of animals and the environment. We were always in the outdoors and watched a lot of documentaries. His enthusiasm was contagious, and I grew curious of the world and how things worked. What is it about Rosalind Franklin that fascinates you?
Are there any aspects of her life or work that strike you as particularly remarkable? Franklin was also inspired to be a scientist by her father. However her father did not support her career. Franklin fascinates me because she was so strong and sure that she wanted to be a scientist in spite of her father and during a time when it was extremely difficult for women to have a career in science.
She persevered and made some of the most important discoveries in scientific history. In those days, female scientists found it extremely difficult to assert themselves in the scientific sphere.
Access to education was limited, and progression in academia was near impossible. Their contributions often went unrecognized — or were even claimed by other scientists under their own name. As a woman conducting research in the s, Franklin was marginalized within the scientific community; not to mention the lower wages she was afforded. The results of her research were used without her consent, and her scientific contributions failed to receive the appreciation they were due.
She made other important discoveries that were crucial in shaping crystallography and virology as fields of research. From your point of view, what exactly has changed? In my opinion, the most obvious change from the s is certainly the fact that women today endure less sexism.
0コメント