Rosalind Franklin
Basically Rosalind Franklin appears was betrayed by
her colleague Maurice Wilkins.
Timeline of Key Events 1940s–1962 (per GROK):
DNA identified as genetic material (e.g., Avery’s experiments). Franklin joins King’s College to study DNA fibers using X-ray diffraction.
Late 1951: Watson and Crick begin model-building at Cambridge, inspired by a talk by Wilkins showing Franklin’s early data.
May 1952: Franklin captures Photo 51, showing DNA’s helical structure clearly.
January 1953: Wilkins shows Photo 51 to Watson (without Franklin’s knowledge) during a visit.
February–March 1953: Watson and Crick build and refine the double helix model using Franklin’s measurements. Franklin drafts her own helix paper but hesitates on the exact form.
April 25, 1953: Watson and Crick publish their model in Nature, crediting “unpublished results” from Franklin and Wilkins.
1958: Franklin dies of ovarian cancer at age 37 (likely from radiation exposure in her work).
1962: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins (Nobels aren’t given posthumously).