Franklin had discovered that DNA could crystallize into two different forms, an A form and a B form (Ardell 2006). This is where the relationship between Franklin and Wilkins began its journey. Their leader, John Randall assigned Rosalind the A form and Maurice the B form. Their task consisted of the each elucidating their molecular structure (Ardell 2006). After Rosalind discovered the two different forms of DNA, she developed a laborious method to separate the two forms. This provided the first DNA crystals pure enough to yield interpretably diffraction patterns visible with the X-ray machine. Once Franklin had separated the two forms she went on to study the crystallized forms and discovered important basic facts about its structure (Ardell 2006). Because of her previous discoveries Rosalind was able to proove many scientific theories false. She discovered that the sugar-phosphate background of DNA lies on the outside of the molecule, not the inside (Ardell 2006). She also discovered that the helical structure of DNA has two strands, not three as proposed in competing theories. What she wanted to discover was how the bases paired on the inside of the helix. She didn’t have the right data to prove this most important theory. This discovery remained for Watson and Crick to make.
With great respect, Rosalind felt betrayed by her male colleagues and decided to leave King’s College and start work at Birkbeck College in London. Here she headed her own research group to study coal and wrap up her work on DNA. Rosalind’s attention turned to viruses and laying the foundation for structural virology (Ardell 2006). At this position she published 17 papers in five years. This research project was more challenging then the discoveries of DNA. The first structure of an entire virus that she researched was called the Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) (Ardell 2006) and polio virus (Pioneer Moleculer Biologist n.d.).
J.D. Bernalstated “Using the method of isomorphous replacement, Rosalind showed that the virus particle (TMV) was not solid, as had been previously thought, but actually a hollow tube (Rosalind Franklin 1999).”
