Rosalind Franklin, a brief biography

Rosalind Franklin, a brief biography

Rosalind Franklin was a major contributor to the understanding of how the DNA molecule is structured. Most of her work centered around the practice of X-ray crystallography, which is bouncing x-rays of atoms to create an accurate image of the 3-D structure of the molecule based on the reflections off the X-rays. Using this method she was able to take a reliably accurate picture of DNA. Crick and Watson then used this research to their advantage to form their hypothesis on the structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin's research was put to use to provide an accurate picture of DNA helping researchers all over the world; she went on to help study the structure of viruses.

Currently there is an effort to decode the genetic changes that are undergone when somebody has brain cancer, specifically glioblastoma. One of the most aggressive if not the most, and common of all brain tumors, glioblastoma strikes more than 20,000 people every year in the USA and causes   13,000 deaths in the same amount of time. Most interestingly it can develop a resistance to certain types of chemotherapy, causing a large growth of tumors later that are even more chemotherapy tolerant. (Ted Kennedy has this type of cancer according to the article)

In the field of DNA research Rosalind Franklin helped create our modern understanding of DNA. This article shows how far we have come from looking at a strand and having no idea as to what it does to decoding the very fabric of our existence. The work of a group of scientists has proven immeasurably valuable in our studies of the body and its building blocks. We are now deciphering the language that the building instructions for our bodies are written in.