Secret of Photo 51

[bascule]

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On April 25, 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published their groundbreaking discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, the molecule essential for passing on our genes and the ''secret of life.'' But their crucial breakthrough depended on the pioneering work of another biologist–Rosalind Franklin. She would never know that Watson and Crick had seen a crucial piece of her data without her permission. This was an X-ray image, ''Photo 51,'' that proved to be a vital clue in their decoding of the double helix.

 

50 years later, NOVA investigates the shocking truth behind one of the greatest scientific discoveries and presents a moving portrait of a brilliant woman in an era of male-dominated science. Sadly, Franklin never lived to see her vital role in the discovery vindicated. While Watson and Crick went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1962, Franklin died in 1958, at 37, from ovarian cancer; and the Nobel is not awarded posthumously.

 

Hear the inside story from Maurice Wilkins, the colleague who showed her crucial x-ray to Watson; Raymond Gosling, Franklin’s Ph.D. student with whom she made Photo 51; and Nobel Prize winner Sir Aaron Klug, Franklin’s last collaborator, who shows new evidence of just how close Franklin came to making the vital double helix discovery herself.

 

So what's the dilly yo?

[Nevermore]

They stole her research and claimed it as thier own.

[shush]

This has been a very long and complex controversy. There are as many sides to the story as there are characters in it. But there are some details which many people agree on.

1. Watson and Crick used Franklin's data which they heard during a presentation but which was not published. But they never referenced it in their paper. They defend by saying that the data was not published and hence they could not reference it.

2. However, this data was not the whole soul of the paper. It included a LOT of other stuff which made their case very strong and hence is not tantamount to 'stealing' her research and claiming it as their own...because most of the research was their own. But Franklin's data was undoubtedly an important supplementary evidence.

 

Complicating the story is the strong personalities of the protogonists. Watson is widely regarded as an egotist and Franklin was reportedly aloof and introvertish. So it is very difficult to believe either side of the story. Later on, a feminist angle was applied to this which further muddied the situation.

 

I had not read Wilkin's account....will have to see what he says. Surprisingly, Crick said very little about this whole controversy. He moved on and made many more seminal contributions to biology. Widely respected, his word would have carried a lot of weight. His silence, hence, I feel, shows that there is some guilt conscience!

You can see 'The Race for the Double Helix' which was a BBC short film. (Don't know if it is available as DVD). Jeff Goldblum does a very good portrayal of Watson.