The DNA of Rosalind Franklin

In November 2018, the Bank of England asked the public to ‘Think Science’ when nominating candidates for recognition on their new £50 note. They received 114,000 eligible nominations by early December. One scientist to make the first shortlist, which included Alan Turing, Stephen Hawking and Alexander Fleming, was Rosalind Franklin, who was given odds of 6/1 to win by bookmakers William Hill.

Franklin was born into a wealthy and influential family in London’s Notting Hill in 1920 and died in 1958. Her parents had a strong social conscience. Her mother, the daughter of a lawyer, dedicated much of her time to charitable work, including helping unmarried mothers. Her father, an investment banker, worked with the London Working Men’s College, one of the earliest adult education colleges in the UK. Unsurprisingly, Franklin was encouraged to think independently about politics and society and to defend her opinions. Although her family was Jewish, she later became an agnostic. At Cambridge, she joined the Jewish Society, though it has been suggested this was simply to keep her grandfather happy.