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Rosalind Franklin

by Cadence from The United States

The label of a “hero” is severely overused.  Today, “heroes” are celebrities, athletes, movie stars, and their counterparts, whose contributions to the growth and development of society are debatable, if at all.  Modern society has evolved to worship these faux heroic figures; however, true heroes can be found everywhere, from an aspiring teen to an experienced scientist. Likewise, heroes must possess resilience, diligence, and perseverance, in addition to others.  Heroic individuals overcome hurdles mainly with these three traits. Heroes inspire the rest of society through their diligence, resilience, and perseverance.

127016Rosalind FranklinWikipediaOne such inspiring individual fitting into this definition of a hero is Rosalind Elsie Franklin.  Franklin, a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer, conducted the research that was critical in the discovery of the double-helix structure of the DNA.  However, despite her pivotal role in one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all-time, Rosalind Franklin’s story is widely unknown. Franklin, born on July 25, 1920, naturally gravitated to mathematics and science.  She graduated from Newnham College in 1941 and earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from the prestigious University of Cambridge four years later. Rosalind Franklin spent her early professional career studying coal, where she made several breakthroughs that advanced gas-mask technology.  However, Franklin’s most significant research – the molecular structure of the DNA – occurred later at King’s College London. Without her knowledge or consent, a disgruntled colleague, Maurice Wilkins, revealed Franklin’s groundbreaking data to James Watson and Francis Crick, Franklin’s rival DNA researchers at the Cavendish Laboratory.  Prior to seeing Franklin’s work, Watson and Crick were at a roadblock in their research to unravel DNA’s structure. Using the information that Franklin’s research had unveiled, Watson and Crick later became the first to propose the double-helix model of the DNA. The duo was fully and solely credited for the discovery of the DNA structure.  Despite their use of her data, Watson and Crick failed to duly credit Franklin for her contribution in their discovery of the DNA structure. The lack of recognition for her role in one of history’s greatest scientific breakthroughs arguably qualifies Rosalind Franklin as one of science’s biggest unsung heroes. Therefore, Rosalind Franklin, for her prestigious scientific positions and success through various impediments, is instituted as a hero.

It requires a tremendous amount of drive and perseverance to successfully undergo the rigorous training to become a scientist.  Not only did Rosalind Franklin achieve that, she did so at highly prestigious academic institutions, such as the University of Cambridge, the British Coal Utilisation Research Association (BCURA), and Laboratoire des Services Chimiques de l’Etat (Central State Chemical Laboratories).  The privilege to work in these renowned laboratories was hard enough to earn as a male, let alone as a female. At this time in history, society expected women to be homemakers and not to hold professional careers as men. It was also present in Franklin’s family:

Ellis Franklin [Rosalind Franklin’s father] was not sold on the idea of his daughter entering college to study science.  A college education that prepared her for child rearing and maybe social work was one thing; professional education was entirely different...He proposed that she pursue social work, as so many women in the family had done before her.  But Franklin was not swayed. Science was her intended path...She was analytical and logical and happiest solving problems with specific steps and resolutions. Also, her brothers would never have had to forsake a career to volunteer work.  Ellis finally accepted his daughter’s decision. (Polcovar 23)

Despite her father trying to force her into these expectations, Franklin stood her ground, fighting for what she wanted and knew was best for herself.  Her difficult fight against her family’s wishes and society’s norms required her to possess the resolve and perseverance of a trendsetting hero. Franklin’s firm determination was set precedence for the strong future female scientists, even if, at the time, no one took notice of it.  Franklin continued to be undervalued in her professional career: It was hard enough to be a successful scientist in a highly competitive field with some of society’s brightest minds, but because she was a woman, Franklin encountered additional barriers. Colleagues dismissed her as inferior.  They judged her not for her science but for her physical appearance. Even James Watson, the man who stole her data and who later went on to win the Nobel Prize with her work, demeaned Rosalind Franklin by repeatedly referring to her as “Rosy,” a nickname that she detested. He dedicated practically a full page in his memoir to caricaturing her appearance and feminine attributes:   

127017Maurice WilkinsWikipediaI suspect that from the beginning Maurice [Wilkins] hoped that Rosy [would calm down.  Yet mere inspection suggested that she would not easily bend. By choice she did not emphasize her feminine qualities.  Though her features were strong, she was not unattractive and might have been quite stunning had she taken even a mild interest in clothes.  This she did not. There was never lipstick to contrast with her straight black hair, while at the age of thirty-one her dresses showed all the imagination of English blue-stocking adolescents...Clearly Rosy had to go or be put in her place.  The former was obviously preferable because, given her belligerent moods, it would be very difficult for Maurice to maintain a dominant position that would allow him to think unhindered about DNA...The real problem, then, was Rosy. The thought could not be avoided that the best home for a feminist was in another person’s lab.  (Watson 17)

Franklin could not defend herself against this specific denigrating affront of her as she had died around a decade earlier than the publishing of The Double-Helix.  James Watson’s writing in The Double-Helix is only one published example of the discrimination that Rosalind Franklin endured throughout her career as a female scientist in a male-dominated field.   Despite this, she continued her work, and made one of the most impactful discoveries in history. These qualities made her a hero who fought for the progress of future female scientists.

127018James WatsonWikipediaFranklin’s perseverance continued to shine as she pushed through the prejudicial obstacles in her life to make highly significant breakthroughs, further instituting her as a hero.  Franklin not only endured Watson’s discourtesy, but she also dealt with constant friction involving Maurice Wilkins, her assigned partner at King’s College. The antagonistic relationship contributed to his later leaking of Franklin’s data to James Watson:

My encounter with Rosy opened up Maurice to a degree that I had not seen before. Now that I need no longer merely imagine the emotional hell he had faced during the past two years, he could treat me almost as a fellow collaborator rather than as a distant acquaintance with whom close confidences inevitably led to painful misunderstandings.  To my surprise, he revealed that with the help of his assistant Wilson he had quietly been duplicating some of Rosy’s and Gosling’s X-ray work...Then the even more important cat was let out of the bag: since the middle of the summer Rosy had had evidence for a new three-dimensional form of DNA...When I asked what the pattern was like, Maurice went to the adjacent room to pick up a print of the new form they called the “B” structure.  (Watson 167)

Watson comments on the rocky relationship between Franklin and Wilkins, not once bothering to mention how much of an “emotional hell” Franklin would also be enduring in addition to Wilkins.  Neither man considered Franklin’s perspective on the matter nor did they ask her how she felt. This treatment shows that This, ultimately, led Wilkins revealing Franklin’s data to Watson. He did not reveal his viewing of Franklin’s data until much later, most notably in the publication of The Double-Helix.  on Despite these taxing impediments placed on Franklin, she continued to thrive in her research, making major breakthroughs in her study of the molecular structure of DNA:

After the Royal Society meeting, Rosalind showed some other DNA photographs to Robert Corey...Rosalind’s photographs were superb...While she was at the Royal Society, her camera was on.  The X-ray photographs she and Gosling were taking required long exposure ‒ as long as 100 hours ‒ of a single DNA fibre positioned at the very close range...Sometimes during exposure, the fibre would change from the crystalline A form to the paracrystalline B form.  Once this happened so abruptly that the fibre fell off the holder. The photograph taken between 1 and 2 May showed a stark x, formed of tigerish blacks stripes radiating out from the centre. The spaces between the arms of the x were completely blank.  It was the clearest picture ever taken of the B form of DNA, unquestionably a helix. Rosalind numbered it Photograph 51 and put it aside, to return (as agreed with Randall) to the puzzle of the A form. (Maddox 177)

127019Photograph 51WikipediaPhotograph 51, arguably one of Rosalind Franklin’s most impactful breakthroughs, was taken during her time at King’s College.  Franklin’s time at King’s College took an emotional toll on her, as it did on Wilkins. Despite this, Franklin produced some of her best work, which later would aid in the discovery of the double-helix.  However, Watson and Crick, at the center of the discovery, failed to credit her with the role she played in the breakthrough. Today, Franklin continues to be majorly unrecognized, and her story is only just beginning to emerge.  Because of her major part in the breakthrough, but lack of credit, Rosalind Franklin remained the unsung hero of the discovery of DNA’s double-helix.

127020Rosalind FranklinNIH Profiles in ScienceBecause of her scientific success as a researcher in a male-dominated field and her prestigious place in the scientific field, Rosalind Franklin is a true hero.  Franklin, while working on her various projects and throughout life, endured obstacles in the forms of societal expectation, relayed in her father’s disagreement of what her career should be or in the way her colleagues undervalued her.  However, despite these trials, Franklin was able to produce remarkable data, which greatly contributed to the discovery of DNA, which she was, unjustly, not recognized for. Rosalind Franklin taught me, and continue to teaches me, to fight for myself and not let others drag me down with them.  To stay afloat, we sometimes have to make sacrifices. I was captain of my CyberPatriot team for several years. In my first year, my team was riddled with teammates who did not contribute anything to our success. They, instead, distracted and dragged us down. Because of this, I eliminated the problematic teammates.  Franklin also taught me that the world, sometimes, is not just. It was not Franklin’s fault that Watson depicted her in such a manner. She could not have defended herself either, as she had died a decade earlier. However, justice is slowly prevailing. There are occurrences and such in life that I must accept, whether fair or not.  Some I may have inflicted upon myself, and am paying the price for, and others may be completely out of my control. However, I should be hope for the best and go along with what life throws at me. Franklin not only inspires me, but others as well. In his Nobel talk, Aaron Klug, Franklin’s fellow colleague, mentioned her: “In 1982, Aaron Klug won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy.  In his Nobel lecture, he spoke admiringly of his former colleague. ‘It was Rosalind Franklin who set me the example of tackling large and difficult problems,’ he said” (Polcovar 130-131).  Franklin took on tough problems head-on. Her life, in itself, was a tough problem, with the various impediments that were put upon her. She tackled it like every other problem in her life: head-on.  Had Franklin not tackled life as she did and made her breakthroughs, society may never have learned of the double-helix of DNA, a crucial component to the medicinal field today.

Works Cited

Maddox, Brenda. Rosalind Franklin: the Dark Lady of DNA. HarperCollins, 2003.

Polcovar, Jane. Rosalind Franklin and the Structure of Life. Morgan Reynolds Pub., 2006.

Watson, James D. The Double Helix: a Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. Atheneum, 1980.

 

Page created on 6/13/2018 7:52:01 PM

Last edited 6/13/2018 8:06:04 PM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Extra Info

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/KR/p-nid/183 - An overview of Franklin's life.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/rosalind-franklin-legacy.html - Regarding the legacy and impact of Franklin.