Rosalind Franklin was born in London to a well educated family with members who were always involving themselves in community activities. Rosalind's father had difficulty accepting her decision to attend Cambrige University; it caused a large family dispute, finally setteled when an aunt expressed her opinion that Rosalind's decision was the right one and she was allowed to attend the college of choice.
While Franklin was in college, a war broke out and she focused on the uses of coal and charcoal and how to make efficient use of both; she published 5 papers on the matter. Franklin also helped launch the field of the strength of carbon fibers after working for her doctorates. She then travelled to France to enjoy the freedoms of peacetime and eventually returned to England where she was invited to attend King University. There she joined another graduate by the name of MauriceWilkins with whom a conflict arose because Wilkins thought Franklin would be assisting him on their projects and Franklin was under the impression she would be working alone. This conflict led to the race to find the structure of DNA.
Rosalind learned many different techniques, and how to use them to extract DNA fibers and arrange them into bundles. She eventually, using this method, discovered the key to DNA structure. Without getting permission from Franklin, Wilkins shared her discovery with other scientists, James Watson and Francis Crick. These two, in 1953, published Franklin's proposed structure of DNA. This caused much confusion for her and others at the University, and led her into a new position where she began researching viruses and what causes them.
Franklin was always after the facts, she published 17 books in the process. She never did receive the credit she should have gotten for her role in discovering the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the carrier of genetic material. Among her other acheivements were being the first to produce photgraphs that clearly illustrated DNA's helical structure and identifying the location of phosphate sugars in DNA. Franklin died from cancer at age 37, only 4 years before Watson, Crick and Wilkins received a Nobel Prize for their achievements concerning DNA.
Former Link, http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/33/03338000.htm (October 2006)
Added, http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564570/Franklin_Rosalind_Elsie.html (October 2006)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bofran.html
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/BC/Rosalind_Franklin.html
Written by: Bobbi L. Gribble, 2002