Rosalind franklin and maurice wilkins

It’s one of the most famous moments in the history of science: On February 28, 1953, Cambridge University molecular biologists James Watson and Francis Crick determined that the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA—the molecule carrying the genetic code unique to any individual—was a double helix polymer, a spiral consisting of two strands of DNA wound around one another.

Nearly 10 years later, Watson and Crick, along with biophysicist Maurice Wilkins, received the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for uncovering what they called the “secret of life.” Yet another person was missing from the award ceremony, whose work was vital to the discovery of DNA’s structure.

Rosalind Franklin was a chemist and X-ray crystallographer who studied DNA at King’s College London from 1951 to 1953, and her unpublished data paved the way for Watson and Crick’s breakthrough.

An Unflattering Portrayal in Watson's Account

Fran