Science · 1920–1958
Born: 25 July 1920 · Died: 16 April 1958 · Age at death: 37
Rosalind Franklin died aged 37. She was born on 25 July 1920 and died on 16 April 1958.
English chemist whose X-ray image Photo 51 was key to discovering the double-helix structure of DNA
Did you know?Her work was vital to the discovery of the double helix, though she was not initially credited by the other researchers involved.
Rosalind Franklin's work was essential to discovering the structure of DNA. A gifted chemist from Cambridge, she became an expert in X-ray crystallography in Paris. At King's College London in 1952 her student took Photo 51, a sharp X-ray image of DNA. Without her knowledge, the image was shown to James Watson. With her data, he and Francis Crick built their double helix model. She then did important work on viruses. She died of cancer at 37, before the Nobel Prize was awarded.
Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 1920 – 16 April 1958) was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer. Her work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal, and graphite.
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Profile
English chemist, 1920–1958
Rosalind Franklin was born in Notting Hill on 25 July 1920.
She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge.
She took Photo 51 in 1952.
She died of cancer in 1958, aged 37.
Career highlights
Did you know?Her colleague Aaron Klug later won a Nobel Prize for work they began together.
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