Page "Rosalind Franklin" Paragraph 12

In January 1951, Franklin started working as a research associate at King's College London in the Medical Research Council's ( MRC ) Biophysics Unit, directed by John Randall.

Although originally she was to have worked on X-ray diffraction of proteins and lipids in solution, Randall redirected her work to DNA fibers before she started working at King's since Franklin was to be the only experienced experimental diffraction researcher at King's in 1951.

He made this reassignment, even before she started working at King's, because of the following pioneering work by Maurice Wilkins and Raymond Gosling-a Ph. D. student assigned to help Franklin.

Even using crude equipment, these two men had obtained an outstanding diffraction picture of DNA which sparked further interest in this molecule.

Wilkins and Gosling had been carrying out X-ray diffraction analysis of DNA in the unit since May 1950, but Randall had not informed them that he had asked Franklin to take over both the DNA diffraction work and guidance of Gosling's thesis.

Randall's lack of communication about this reassignment significantly contributed to the well documented friction that developed between Wilkins and Franklin.