Rosalind Franklin Discovery of the Structure of DNA and Other
Scientific Contributions
Slide 2
Questions to Ponder What were the roles of women during
Franklins time (1920 1958)? How might this have impacted her work?
Would being Jewish at this time present any hardships?
Slide 3
Early Years Born July 25, 1920 Attended St. Pauls Girls School
in London Emphasized preparing graduates for careers Also one of a
few schools at the time that offered physics and chemistry to
females Graduated Newnham College, Cambridge University 1941
University of Cambridge Logo
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Newnham College One of two womens colleges at Cambridge
University About 500 Women in a class of over 5000 Majored in
Natural Sciences with a specialty in Physical Chemistry
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Post Graduation 1941 Worked in gas phase chromatography in
R.G.W. Norrishs lab. Became a noted pioneer in photochemistry 1942
- Went to work for British Coal Utilization Research Association
(BCURA) Also served as an air raid warden Made fundamental studies
on carbons, coals, and graphite microstructures This work became
the basis of her doctorate work in physical chemistry Also learned
basics of molecular biology and crystallography She received her
PhD from Cambridge University in 1945
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Work at BCURA She worked to explain the different
microstructures of different carbons and coals Worked to explain
why some were more permeable than others Also how heating and
carbonization affected a coals permeability Franklins work was the
first to identify and measure the microstructures within coal. This
work made it possible to classify different types of coals and
predict their performance. Anthracite
BituminousSubbituminousLignite
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Paris 1947-1950 - Laboratoire Central des Services Chimiques de
L'Etat Here she learned to analyze carbons using x-ray
crystallography (x-ray diffraction analysis) She detailed
structures of graphitizing and non- graphitizing This work paved
the way for the development of carbon fibers and new heat-resistant
materials
Slide 8
X-ray Diffraction Used to determine the arrangement of atoms in
a crystal. Executed by shooting a beam of x-rays at a crystal. The
atoms in the crystal cause the x-rays to bounce in many different
directions. From the intensity of the refractions a
crystallographer can make a three dimensional model of the
anatomical structure of the crystal.
Slide 9
Back To London 1951 Started work as a research associate in
John Randalls lab at Kings College Here she worked on one of the
major scientific challenges of that time. Figuring out the
structure and function of DNA Kings College Coat Of Arms
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Randalls Lab Randall wanted Franklin to use the x-ray
diffraction techniques that she had learned to produce pictures of
DNA Maurice Wilkins, also working on the structure of DNA,
misunderstood Franklins role in the lab, thinking she was working
under him, while Franklin thought she was working independently.
Randalls communication to Franklin did not portray this however.
The paperwork said that Franklin and a graduate student, Raymond
Gosling, would be working on DNA This mistake was acknowledged, but
she never received fair treatment from Wilkins
Slide 11
Meanwhile in Crick and Watsons Lab Cambridge Francis Crick and
James Watson were working on a theoretical model of DNA. Working by
deduction and model building, not by experimenting and data
gathering Their models were not very accurate and had did not
represent the true structure of DNA Had models that phosphate
groups that make up the backbone of DNA ran along the inside of the
molecule
Slide 12
Drama in Science Franklin was beaten in the race to publication
of the structure of DNA by Francis Crick and James Watson This is
partly due to the conflict between Franklin and Wilkins Wilkins
showed Watson a photo of Franklins work. While Watson was on a
visit to Kings College in 1953
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Taken May 1952 Photo 51
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Drama Continued After seeing Photo 51 Watson relayed what he
had learned to Crick and they published their model in Nature in
April 1953 http://members.multimania.nl/TheDNApage/dnanim/dn
anim05.gif http://members.multimania.nl/TheDNApage/dnanim/dn
anim05.gif Franklin and Gosling revised a draft of their own to
appear with Watson and Cricks, but due to placing of their work it
seemed to just support Watson and Cricks work
Slide 15
Birkbeck College, London Spring 1953 took a position in the
crystallography laboratory Began investigation into the tobacco
mosaic virus Published seventeen papers while working at Birkbeck
College
Slide 16
Her Final Years Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the fall of
1956 Cancer ran in her family, but it did not help that while
working and taking x-ray images she did not wear any sort of
protection from the harmful rays During this time she went through
many surgeries and treatments. She also, when healthy continued
working and traveling. She died April 16, 1958
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Nobel Prize Watson and Crick, along with Wilkins shared the
1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries
concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its
significance for information transfer in living material
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Summary
Slide 19
EXCEPTION! 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to
Ralph Steinman He had died just days before the announcement was
made that he had won the Nobel Prize The Nobel Assembly had already
announced he was the winner before they knew of his death
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Additional Info If you would like to learn more, I highly
recommend listening to a podcast on Rosalind Franklin done by Stuff
You Missed In History Class (howstuffworks.com)
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Sources
http://www.yourlogoresources.com/university-of-cambridge-logo/ Use
this with photo 51 and explain GATC
http://members.multimania.nl/TheDNApage/dnanim/dnanim05.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KCL_Coat_of_arms1.png
http://washingtondcjcc.org/center-for-arts/theater-j/on-stage/10-11Season/photograph-51/photograph-51-image.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Coal_anthracite.jpg/300px-Coal_anthracite.jpg
http://www1.newark.ohio-state.edu/Professional/OSU/Faculty/jstjohn/Common%20rocks/Lignite%20coal.jpg
http://www.chemical-engineering.co/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/BITUMINOUS-COAL.jpg
http://coal.infomine.com/Commodities/Global/Assets/Images/SubBituminous.jpg
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1962/
http://www.dnareplication.info/images/dnadoublehelix2.jpg
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/openday/Portals/0/Birkbeck%2520Logo%2520Colour.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.planit.co.th/Study-Abroad/birkbeck-
college.html&usg=__FVRuXDlW5tORzbgHUJojx6DKqVU=&h=369&w=1167&sz=64&hl=en&start=9&zoom=1&tbnid=k04DQsGbpDb0oM:&tbnh=79&tbnw=250&ei=JbNCT9n-
G4eQ2AXfyoSNCA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DBirkbeck%2BCollege%26tbnh%3D144%26tbnw%3D200%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-
US:official%26sig%3D110663647292678673728%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D687%26tbs%3Dsimg:CAESEgm9k4U_1uMy_1ryF5v8bhD6A-
MQ%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=783&sig=110663647292678673728&page=1&ved=0CGwQrQMwCA&tx=85&ty=69:en-
US:official%26sig%3D110663647292678673728%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D687%26tbs%3Dsimg:CAESEgm9k4U_1uMy_1ryF5v8bhD6A-
MQ%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=783&sig=110663647292678673728&page=1&ved=0CGwQrQMwCA&tx=85&ty=69
http://www.nobelprize.org/press/nobelfoundation/press_releases/2011/steinman.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rosalind_Franklin.jpg
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2011/steinman.html
http://s13.podbean.com/image-logo/2/71540_logo.jpg