Crystallographer. Born Chepstow Villas. Worked on DNA X-ray diffraction studies at King's College London with Gosling, Stokes, Wilkins and Wilson. She was responsible for the photograph taken in May 1952, which answered some crucial questions in the research.
Crick and Watson, who won the Nobel Prize for discovering the DNA double helix, relied on these results of Franklin's for their breakthrough. There is some controversy concerning the extent to which they acknowledged that. Some feel that Franklin was not given due recognition due to her gender, her religion (Jewish) or even her class (upper/middle). Died at Royal Marsden Hospital, Chelsea.
