How Rosalind Franklin Discovered the Helical Structure of DNA: Experiments in Diffraction

• Autores: Gregory Braun, D. Tierney, H. Schmitzer
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 49, Nº. 3, 2011, págs. 140-143
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Rosalind Franklin, a chemical physicist 1920�1958, used xray diffraction to determine the structure of DNA. What exactly could she read out from her xray pattern, shown in Fig. 1?1In lecture notes dated November 1951, R. Franklin wrote the following: �The results suggest a helical structure which must be very closely packed containing 2, 3 or 4 coaxial nucleic acid chains per helical unit, and having the phosphate groups near the outside.�2This was 16 months before J. D. Watson and F. Crick published their description of DNA, which was based on R. Franklins xray photos. How they gained access to her xray photos is a fascinating tale of clashing personalities and male chauvinism.2,3