Biology / Unit 6 Bio 1199 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Franklin and Gosling's X-Ray Diffraction (1953)
Captions available
The idea
Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling produced Photo 51 in 1952, an X-ray diffraction image whose measurements of DNA's helical structure they published in 1953.
In practice
Photo 51's X-shaped pattern revealed DNA's helical geometry and the spacing between its repeating turns.
Where people slip
This data was the structural evidence the double-helix model was built from — Franklin's contribution was not a secondary or incidental one.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Biology