The Dark Lady of DNA - Rosalind Franklin
Do any of you know who the dark lady of DNA is? Her name is Rosalind Franklin. She was the first person to successfully x-ray a strand of DNA. I loved my biology classes and learned about Watson and Crick (the first to declare to the world that DNA exists as a double helix). I believe them to be great scientists but I feel Franklin was ignored for her part in the discovery for it was after a visit to her lab that Watson and Crick finally put together their own strand of DNA - they won a Nobel Prize for it in 1962.
Another scientist, Maurice Wilkins, was given credit for using the process of crystallography to x-ray the DNA. In fact,according to papers and the book I'm reading, it is said that when Rosalind Franklin was assigned to assist Wilkins, he claimed she hampered his progress.
Franklin died in 1958. I feel it is enormously sad that in the time of x-raying a strand of DNA, the woman who managed to do so, died of ovarian cancer. Oh, the irony of it all!
I am currently reading The Dark Lady of DNA, a biography of Rosalind Franklin written by Brenda Maddox. It is fascinating to read of the trials and tribulations Franklin had to surmount to do what she loved to do - physical chemistry. Most of her opposition to practicing came from her male counter parts. She was not the only celebrated female to have fought her way through the male world of power and privilege.
What do you think about the glass ceiling; male privilege, and gender inequality? Do they exist?
Another scientist, Maurice Wilkins, was given credit for using the process of crystallography to x-ray the DNA. In fact,according to papers and the book I'm reading, it is said that when Rosalind Franklin was assigned to assist Wilkins, he claimed she hampered his progress.
Franklin died in 1958. I feel it is enormously sad that in the time of x-raying a strand of DNA, the woman who managed to do so, died of ovarian cancer. Oh, the irony of it all!
I am currently reading The Dark Lady of DNA, a biography of Rosalind Franklin written by Brenda Maddox. It is fascinating to read of the trials and tribulations Franklin had to surmount to do what she loved to do - physical chemistry. Most of her opposition to practicing came from her male counter parts. She was not the only celebrated female to have fought her way through the male world of power and privilege.
What do you think about the glass ceiling; male privilege, and gender inequality? Do they exist?
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