Transition - Francis Crick

[jseal]

Francis Crick, co-describer with James Watson of the DNA double-helix, has died. He was 88.


In 1962, the pair shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine with Maurice Wilkins for their work "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material".

[Lilith]

And Rosalind Franklin who actually discovered it is in her grave with no awards or recognition.

[jseal]

Lilith,

The way the game is played in those circles is to publish correctly first. Many people are unaware that Linus Pauling and Robert Corey proposed that DNA was made up of three chains, twisted around each other in ropelike stands. Shortly thereafter, Watson and Crick proposed the double helix structure, which turned out to be correct.

Between 1951 and 1953 Franklin came very close to solving the DNA structure. She was beaten to publication by Crick and Watson in part because of the friction between Maurice Wilkins and herself. At one point, Wilkins showed Watson one of Franklin's crystallographic portraits of DNA. When he saw the picture, the solution became apparent to him, and the results went into an article in Nature almost immediately. Franklin's work did appear as a supporting article in the same issue of the journal.

A debate about the amount of credit due to Franklin continues. What is clear is that she did have a meaningful role in discerning the structure of DNA and that she was a scientist of the first rank

[Lilith]

TY JSeal, I have written about her for several classes....she was fucked out of recognition but she was the first to ever see the structure of DNA. Dying of ovarian cancer, mostly due to the equipment, x-ray crystallography, she had used to take that pic, made the situation much more comfortable for those who stole her glory since the award is not given posthumously.

[jseal]

Lilith,

Having written about her, I am sure that you are aware that having an X-ray crystallography plate is decidedly not the same as publishing a proposed structure for DNA. I am surprised that you selected this thread to suggest that someone else was more worthy of the fame associated with involvement in the elucidation of the structure of DNA.

[Lilith]

Glad to have surprised you, I like to keep you all on your toes! I do not say she is more worthy but equally. It's like saying that the person who first observes a new planet is not the person who discovered it because they did not name it.

[jseal]

Lilith,

Based upon what I know of Rosalind Franklin’s involvement in the race to determine the structure of DNA, I feel that the assertion that she should be considered the one “who actually discovered it”, rather than Crick and Watson, is unsubstantiated.

Further, that you and I can debate coherently about this undermines the proposition that she has received no recognition.

Finally, that the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously should neither detract from her achievements in the field nor devalue those made by the recipients.

I feel that it would be best if I not post again to this thread.

[Lilith]

Lilith,

Based upon what I know of Rosalind Franklin’s involvement in the race to determine the structure of DNA, I feel that the assertion that she should be considered the one “who actually discovered it”, rather than Crick and Watson, is unsubstantiated.

And I believe her work was critical and that without it they would have had nothing to write about.

Further, that you and I can debate coherently about this undermines the proposition that she has received no recognition.

I agree but without people like me carrying her name forward all we would hear, as is obvious from your original post, is the names of the men who may or may not have robbed her of one of the major accomplishments in her incredible career.

Finally, that the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously should neither detract from her achievements in the field nor devalue those made by the recipients.

But it saved them the hassle of having to credit her work.

I feel that it would be best if I not post again to this thread.

Ok.

[BIBI]

Takes a look...

Grabs her ever handy 10 foot pole....

Vaults out of thread

;)

[Nice Guy]

It is true that Franklin did photograph the double-helix pattern that was used by the others to complete their discovery. She eventually found out that they had used her work to complete their own but she did not speak out about it.

It is unfortunate that her name will always be in the background of this discovery.