15 Intriguing Facts About Rosalind Franklin

Today marks what would have been the 100th birthday of the renowned English chemist Rosalind Franklin, a brilliant scientist whose greatest achievement—discovering the structure of DNA—went unrecognized with a 1962 Nobel Prize. Here are 15 fascinating facts about her life and work.

1. Rosalind Franklin recognized her scientific passion at an early age, but her father did not believe women should pursue higher education.

Born in London in 1920, Rosalind Elsie Franklin was one of five children in an affluent Jewish family. At the age of 15, she determined to become a scientist and passed the Cambridge University entrance exam. However, her father, Ellis, a merchant banker, disapproved of women attending college and refused to finance her education. It took the persuasion of her aunt and mother to change his mind, leading her to enroll at Newnham College, Cambridge, in 1938.

2. Rosalind Franklin shared her college experience with another woman whose contributions went largely unrecognized.

Joan Clarke, a cryptanalyst at Bletchley Park, was a few years older than Franklin, but they both attended Newnham College in the late 1930s. Clarke later joined the war effort, cracking the German Enigma codes. Much of her work remains shrouded in secrecy due to government restrictions.

3. For many years, Rosalind Franklin's university failed to properly acknowledge her academic accomplishments.

Although Newnham College had been part of Cambridge since 1871, the university did not grant women full membership until 1948—seven years after Franklin had received her chemistry degree. In contrast, Oxford University began awarding degrees to women in 1920.

4. Rosalind Franklin's coal research contributed to advancements in the aerospace industry.

After graduating, Franklin took a position at the British Coal Utilization Research Association (BCURA), where she conducted research on coal and charcoal, exploring their potential uses beyond fuel. Her research became the foundation of her 1945 doctoral dissertation and several papers on carbon fibers' microstructures. This work later played a significant role in the development of carbon composites used in aircraft and spacecraft construction.

5. Rosalind Franklin faced hostility and obstruction from her male colleagues.

Known for her straightforward approach and refusal to conform to traditional feminine expectations, Franklin left Cambridge for coal research after her doctoral supervisor dismissed her, believing that women were inherently inferior to men. In 1951, when she joined King's College, London, to study DNA, she faced resistance from Maurice Wilkins, who mistakenly viewed her as his assistant rather than an equal. Franklin, however, expected full independence. Their relationship deteriorated, with Wilkins even sharing her research without her consent with James Watson and Francis Crick—his competitors funded by Cambridge University. Watson later disparaged Franklin in his 1968 book, The Double Helix, mocking her appearance and stating she needed to be “put in her place.”

6. The sequence of events leading to the discovery of DNA's structure remains a topic of debate today.

Numerous books have been written, debating whether Watson and Crick took credit for Franklin's research or whether Franklin's work contributed to their findings, but they would have arrived at the same conclusions without her. Despite their strained relationship with Franklin, Crick and his wife opened their home to her while she was receiving treatment for ovarian cancer.

7. Rosalind Franklin's groundbreaking work might have contributed to her early death.

Franklin passed away from cancer in 1958 at the age of 37. While genetics may have played a role in her illness, her prolonged exposure to radiation while conducting X-ray crystallography research likely worsened her condition. She is not the first woman in science to risk her health for her work—Marie Curie also died from aplastic anemia, which has been linked to radiation exposure. Many of Curie's personal possessions, such as her cookbooks, remain too radioactive to handle even today.

8. Had Rosalind Franklin lived longer, she might have earned more than one Nobel Prize.

The first Nobel Prize would have been shared with Watson, Crick, and Wilkins, had they been required to acknowledge Franklin's contribution. (In 1903, Pierre Curie requested the Nobel Committee to include his wife in the nomination.) The second prize, however, went to chemist Aaron Klug in 1982, for continuing the work he and Franklin had begun on viruses in 1953, after she left King's College. Due to posthumous award rules at the time of her death (and the discontinuation of posthumous awards in 1974, with only one exception in 2011), Franklin did not receive any Nobel Prizes.

9. Despite being overlooked for the Nobel Prize, Rosalind Franklin's contributions have been recognized and celebrated by many in the academic world.

In 2004, the Chicago Medical School changed its name to the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Numerous academic programs, labs, and auditoriums have also been named in her honor. In 2013, Newnham College principal Dame Carol Black helped unveil a plaque commemorating Franklin at the Eagle Pub in Cambridge. Crick and Watson, who already had a plaque in the pub, were regulars there while working on the DNA project and allegedly boasted to fellow patrons about having uncovered “the secret of life.”

10. Several biographies have been written about Rosalind Franklin.

The first, 1975's Rosalind Franklin and DNA, was penned by her close friend Anne Sayre, in large part as a response to Watson's The Double Helix. In 2002, Brenda Maddox released Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA.

11. An object in space bears Rosalind Franklin's name.

In 1997, amateur astronomer John Broughton from Australia discovered an asteroid, which he named 9241 Rosfranklin in honor of Rosalind Franklin.

12. Rosalind Franklin has even been the subject of at least one historical rap battle.

It was created by seventh-grade students in Oakland, California (with some assistance from teacher Tom McFadden). And it's absolutely delightful.

13. Rosalind Franklin has been immortalized not only on the big stage but also on television.

In 1987, BBC's Horizon series aired The Race for the Double Helix, with Juliet Stevenson portraying Franklin. Jeff Goldblum played Watson. In 2011, playwright Anna Ziegler premiered a one-act play about Franklin titled Photograph 51, which opened on the West End in 2015, starring Nicole Kidman as Franklin.

14. The 2015 production of Photograph 51 reignited the longstanding controversy.

Although Nicole Kidman received much acclaim for her portrayal of Franklin in Photograph 51, Maurice Wilkins' friends and colleagues objected to a scene in which Wilkins takes the photograph—the famous Photo 51, which revealed the DNA structure—from Franklin's desk while she's absent. They argued that Wilkins would never have acted in such a dishonorable manner.

15. The play Photograph 51 could potentially be adapted into a film.

In 2016, Michael Grandage, the director of the West End production, shared with The Hollywood Reporter his aspirations to bring the play to the big screen, with Nicole Kidman reprising her role.

This story has been updated for 2020.