PANCAM

Rosalind Franklin 

The winning entry to the European Space Agency’s competition to name the ExoMars 2022 rover was Rosalind Franklin - after more than 36,000 entries. This is the latest in a long list of honours Rosalind has received since her early death aged just 37 in 1958. 

 

Rosalind Elsie Franklin, born 1920, was a leading scientist who provided

crucial work leading to the structure of DNA. Born in London, she knew whilst

growing up she wanted to go into science and studied physical chemistry

at Cambridge University. Unfortunately, her time here coincided with World War

II and lost many of her mentors to the war effort. After graduating, in 1942

she began her PhD which was oriented towards the war effort, in particular

coal. She worked on the microstructures of coals and carbons. Rosalind was

the first to identify and measure molecular sieves in coal, and enabled

coals to be classified and performance predicted to high degrees of accuracy.

In 1945 she received her PhD in this area from Cambridge, along with five

scientific papers.

 

Rosalind then went on to study carbons using x-ray diffraction analysis in Paris. Her work here earned her an international reputation among coal chemists, but she moved back to England in 1950, starting work at King’s College London to work on DNA. Working with Raymond Gosling, she was able to take clear x-ray diffraction photos of DNA and discovered two forms - wet and dry. Her analyses into these two structures allowed her to conclude in 1953 that both forms had two helices. Although this work wasn’t published at the time, Francis Crick and James Watson at Cambridge used Rosalind’s photographs to gain a crucial insight into DNA structure, and published their work in Nature that spring, with no acknowledgement to her work. 

 

At this point, Rosalind had moved to Birkbeck College, London, to study plant viruses with x-ray diffraction studies. She worked on the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and revealed that the virus’ genetic material was embedded in the inner wall of it’s protective protein shell. Working internationally, she became an expert in virus structures and was recognised for this by the Royal Institution in 1956. 

 

In 1956 Rosalind was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Over the next 18 months she underwent several forms of treatment, while continuing to work to an incredibly high standard. The cancer unfortunately took her life in April 1958, aged just 37. 

 

Recognition for her work increased towards the end of her life, but the critical role she played in the discovery of DNA structure was not recognised during her lifetime. Only since then has Rosalind been celebrated, by numerous recognitions and awards, including the naming of the ExoMars rover. Her legacy continues to this day, and to quote Rosalind “science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated”.

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