What is the famous 'Photograph 51'?

Since it was taken in 1952, ‘Photograph 51’ marked a before and after in relation to the structure of life as we understand it now. In it, Rosalind Franklin used X-ray diffraction to capture the double helix structure of DNA, something detectable with the naked eye by the bands arranged in a cross. According to experts, that perfect ‘X’ in the center was revealing of the spiral staircase structure of the heredity macromolecule.

Called “alarmingly intelligent” from her early years, Rosalind was soon fascinated by the world of the extremely small, yet measurable in three dimensions, which she would unravel in the future. It was after World War II that he became interested in new X-ray diffraction techniques, and acquired excellent skill in applying them to amorphous substances.

When he found out, the director of the laboratory at King’s College London offered him to study the structure of DNA with the new technique, a work in which Maurice Wilkins, his co-worker, had not achieved results. It is in this context that Franklin obtained the photo.

Behind Rosalind’s back, Wilkins showed this image to the biologist James Watson , who was working with Francis Crick on the same subject. They were able to remake from the photo a three-dimensional model of the DNA they had built. With the evidence, they published the discovery in the journal Nature , earning them the 196 Nobel Prize in Medicine, along with Wilkins.

Unfortunately, ovarian cancer caused in part by repeated radiation exposures killed Rosalind in 1958, preventing her from receiving this well-deserved accolade. In any case, Watson made sure that her name did not appear in the award, denying that the scientist had participated. In addition, he later disfigured his image in the book The Double Helix .

However, despite her premature death (at 37 years of age) and being criticized by Watson, today the transcendental contributions to the biology of this woman are undoubted. And not only for his DNA discoveries, but also for his research on the tobacco mosaic virus at Birbeck College with the physicist Bernal. It was a relevant study for the field of agriculture, where crystallographic techniques could be very useful.

Curiously, actress Nicole Kidman played Rosalind Franklin herself in an Anna Ziegler play that premiered in London’s West End in 2015. The story is told primarily from the point of view of those who directly benefited from her research, focusing on Franklin’s time at King’s College London, where he carried out his work on the structure of DNA, and how a photograph, titled Photograph 51, led to our understanding of the nature of life.