Rosalind Franklin

Born in 1920 in Notting Hill, UK
Died in 1958 in London, UK

Work

Photo 51, X-ray diffraction image of the double helix structure of the DNA molecule

In 1953, biochemist Rosalind Franklin used the X-ray diffraction image Photo 51 to recognise the essential structural properties of DNA, the molecular blueprint of life. This provided the template for the double helix model proposed by James Watson and Francis Crick, who were awarded the Nobel Prize, while Franklin's contribution was overlooked for a long time.