The story of who discovered Dna is a story of broken friendship that gave way to one of the greatest breakthroughs in Science. But it is a wonder what could have happened if the friendship had gone smoothly to the end.
Linus Pauling was a physical chemist who put forward a Dna model out of practical thinking that mathematical estimation in the 1950s. He was fascinated with Dna research. He would have been the man who discovered Dna if not for his aloofness from other English scientists. This kept him from being updated as other scientists were, like Watson and Crick.
James Watson and Francis Crick
The discovery of Dna or deoxyribonucleic acid happened when James Watson and Francis Crick were working together to find out the configuration hemoglobin. As they were doing so, they stumbled upon this particular acid cell. After much collaboration with other scientists, they were later credited with being the men who discovered Dna. Today, their names are associated with the discovery of Dna, along with the names of Franklin and Wilkins.
In London, Maurice Wilkins was also busy with his own studies on the Dna. Later, he collaborated with an x-ray expert to get more detailed images of the acid cells breaking down or functioning in a humid environment. This expert was Rosalind Franklin. Franklin was so ahead in the research that Watson attended a lecture by Franklin and was so immersed in it.
But he failed to jut down notes that later messed up his first attempt at publicly presenting a Dna model. He missed one detail that affected his computation. It became a ridiculous presentation. But this did not stop him from being one of the men who discovered Dna.
As a result of the fiasco, Watson’s and Crick’s sponsors ordered them to quit the race for presenting an accurate Dna model.
Wilkins and Franklin Argued
Later, though in a joint project, they argued about the involvement of the molecule helix. Helix, said Wilkins, would take care of the strong cross issue that was giving them a problem. But Franklin wouldn’t give way. The friendship was gradually weakened so that Wilkins later found a friend in Watson.
With the developing friendship also came some vital information exchange, most of which were major findings by Franklin from her x-rays. With enough vital details given by Wilkins from the data of Franklin, Watson and Crick finally developed a model for the Dna and were credited with being the men who discovered Dna. The completed the story of the discovery of Dna.