January, 2015 - Rosalind Franklin - The Good Doctor

Rosalind Franklin - July 25, 1920 - April 16, 1958

The structure of the DNA was discovered in the early months of 1953.  Nine years later, three men were jointly awarded a Nobel Prize for this achievement, which has proved to be one of the most consequential in the history of science.  James Watson and Francis Crick, who worked at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England, came up with the famous double-helix structure.  The third man honored, Maurice Wilkins, was a scientist in London; although he worked at a rival lab, he did make available to Watson and Crick some of the experimental evidence that helped them clinch their discovery.  BUT - the person actually responsible for this evidence was not Wilkins but a colleague of his named Rosalind Franklin, who had died four years before the prize was awarded.

Franklin is best known for her work on the X-ray diffraction images of DNA, which led to the discovery of the DNA double helix.  According to Francis Crick, her data and research were key in determining the structure.  Franklin's image of X-ray diffraction, confirming the helical structure of DNA, were shown to Watson without her approval or knowledge by Wilkins.  This image provided valuable insight into the DNA structure, but Franklin's scientific contributions to the discovery of the double helix are often overlooked.  Neither Watson nor Crick ever admitted to Franklin that they had relied crucially on her research; neither so much as mentioned her in his Nobel acceptance speech.

After finishing her portion of the work on DNA, Franklin led pineering work on the tobacco mosaic virus and the polio virus.  She died in 1958 at the age of 37 of ovarian cancer.

The Drink

The Good Doctor

1.5 oz Amaro
1.5 oz rye whiskey
6 oz Dr. Pepper

Drinkability: 0
Drunkability:  3
Taxic Diversity:  N/A
Accessibility:  3
Priority for Conservation:  0

Comments:  "This drink is TERRIBLE! NOOOOOOOO"

From "Forgotten Women" hosted by CZ