Revisiting Rosalind Franklin's Contribution to DNA Discovery
A new opinion essay published in Nature argues that Rosalind Franklin, the British chemist and crystallographer, was an "equal contributor" to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, rather than a victim of scientific misconduct. The essay draws upon two previously overlooked documents in Dr. Franklin's archive, which suggest that she knew that James Watson and Francis Crick had access to her data and that she and Maurice Wilkins collaborated with them. However, the essay does not change the fact that Dr. Franklin did not receive adequate recognition for her work.