Search engine major Google, on Thursday, celebrated the 93rd birth anniversary of British biophysicist, Rosalind Franklin.
The doodle on Google's home page carries a cartoon of Franklin looking at the DNA structure (double helix). It was Franklin’s work on X-ray diffraction images of the DNA, which led to the discovery of its distinctive structure.
According to Wikipedia, the photograph provided key information that was essential for developing a model of DNA. The diffraction pattern determined the helical nature of the double helix strands (anti-parallel). The outside linings of DNA have a phosphate backbone, and codes for inheritance are inside the helix. Future studies based on Franklin's photography gave crucial parameters for the size and structure of the helix.
In the doodle today, the second O of the word GOOGLE, contains Franklin’s image. The L has been replaced with the image of a DNA double helix.
Born in 1920 in Notting Hill, London, Franklin was the second child and eldest daughter of her parents who belonged to an affluent and influential British Jewish family. She worked at King's College London under Maurice Wilkins.
Franklin passed away at the age of 37, after suffering from ovarian cancer.