Raymond Gosling: Flickr set dedicated to PhD thesis, 'X-ray diffraction studies of Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid '

Following the successful digitisation of Raymond Gosling's PhD thesis, 'X-ray diffraction studies of Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid' I have added a few of the images onto the project’s Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51665752@N04/sets/72157631533614623/ .

(KDBP/5/1)

As I have already stated in the previous posts, Gosling was a vital worker in the King's effort to solve the structure of DNA. His PhD provides an excellent record of the experimental work going on at King’s - not only in terms of x-ray diffraction crystallography on the Signer DNA but the initial diffraction studies on sperm heads; the microscope-based work occurring simultaneously on nucleic acids and descriptions of model building, theoretic analysis of data and apparatus design are also described.

(KDBP/5/1)

The source, from an archival perspective, is ‘visually exciting’. Scientific records tend to be fairly cryptic with significance often hidden within the text or captured in a graph or table. The photographic prints within the thesis give a clear linear progression of the diffraction pattern that were being obtained at King’s. Broadly speaking, it is possible to see the improvement of images as the old x-ray equipment was discarded for the finer focus camera and x-ray tube and the presence of an expert crystallographer, in the form of Rosalind Franklin at the helm. 

Front cover of Raymond Gosling's PhD thesis (KDBP/5/1)

You can now access for free Raymond Gosling's thesis, via the Wellcome Digital Library- here. You can also search for other digital material relating to Raymond Gosling and other King's DNA workers via the Wellcome Library catalogue, as well as access collections from other archives relating to the history of modern genetics. 

Raymond Gosling: Visit to King's Archives

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Raymond Gosling as he came into the Archives to be interviewed for a Swedish documentary on genetics. He was very talkative and full of insights into that crucial 1950-1953 period when the King’s Biophysics Unit were working on the structure of DNA. What was so refreshing about talking to him was not only his enthusiasm for the subject but his even-handed approach. Having worked with both Franklin and Wilkins at different stages of the project he gave a fair and independent analysis of their fractured relationship.

In the discussion with Gosling he emphasised the significance of the early x-ray photographs in kick-starting the hunt for the structure, and unintentionally spurring on the ‘race’ with its public unveiling at the Naples conference (1951). As well as describing the impressive character of the Biophysics Unit pioneered by Sir John Randall, he was aware that the time was ripe for the discovery of the structure of DNA and that several institutions around the world could have claimed it.

Below, is a video clip of Professor Gosling taking about the discovery of DNA at King's in the 1950s, as part of the London Science Festival, on the 21st October 2011. 

The diffraction pattern that Gosling refers to in the video is not the one shown in the video, which for those eagle-eyed readers out there is 'Photo 51'. Gosling was discussing the 1950 multi-fibre crystalline DNA pattern he produced with Wilkins and was the image shown at the Naples Conference in May 1951. Here is the correct image: 

X-ray diffraction image of DNA using the Raymax tube and Unicam camera, 1950 (ref: K/PP178/6/5/1)

The research papers relating to Raymond Gosling's work on DNA can now be accessed online via the Wellcome Digital Library. You can find out what other material available online via the Wellcome Library catalogue. 

Raymond Gosling: Not just an extraordinary envoy

Raymond Gosling was one of the key workers on DNA at King's during the period that became immortalised as the 'Race for the Double Helix'. His achievements have been eclipsed by the personality clash between Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.  Gosling’s own role as the rift developed became that of "an Envoy Extraordinary and diplomatically carrying the "sense" of messages between them".  However, there was much more to Gosling's role than acting as a courier between the two parties and the next three posts will be dedicated to his role at King's. 

In the papers of Maurice Wilkins and those of the department of Biophysics Department are correspondence, articles, a PhD thesis, photographs and the diffraction patterns that Gosling produced with both Wilkins and Franklin. All these images have been selected for digitisation and this post contains a few samples of the type of material the collection holds. 

 One of our oldest pieces is a postcard sent to Wilkins from Gosling while on his honeymoon in 1950. His honeymoon consisted of touring Italy on his motorbike. Recently, I discovered that Wilkins, too, used to get lifts on the back of his motorbike after late nights working on x-ray diffraction experiments in the summer of 1950. Wilkins described this as “rather scary” but “enjoyed his hilarious time together” with Gosling. 

(ref: K/PP178/3/12)

(K/PP178/3/12)

The experimental biophysics work that King's has become known for in the solving of the structure of DNA was X-ray diffraction and Gosling's importance is undisputed. Gosling was the first to apply x-ray diffraction techniques on nucleic material at King's with the study of ram sperm heads in 1950. Later that year Gosling moved on to looking at DNA specimens and Wilkins brought him the calf thymus DNA donated by Rudolf Signer. The two began to collaborate and managed through innovation and some luck to produce a crystalline multi-fibre diffraction pattern of DNA that proved to be the breakthrough required to show that the structure of DNA was a feasible proposition. Soon afterwards new equipment and an expert crystallographer, in the shape of Rosalind Franklin, were brought in and Gosling was handed over to be Franklin's assistant. Gosling and Franklin made great strides and soon discovered through Franklin's control of the humidity levels that DNA occurred in two phases, called Structure A and B, and that this change could be reversible. This observation was followed up with further deductions based on the effect of water content on both structures. Whilst the rift within the lab affected joint efforts, Gosling and Franklin did go on to produce a three dimensional Patterson function of Structure A DNA, the data from which helped to prove the correctness of the Watson-Crick model.

Early calf thymus x-ray diffraction pattern produced by Raymond Gosling, 1950 (ref: K/PP178/5/1/1 Copyright: King's College London)

X-ray diffraction patterns of Structure A and B from Franklin & Gosling's article in Acta  Crystallographica, ' The  Structure  of  Sodium   Thymonucleate  Fibres. I.
The  Influence  of Water  Content', 1953 (ref: K/PP178/2/28 copyright: Please contact King's College London Archive Service)

  In the late 1970s, at the request of Wilkins, Gosling produced a recollection of his time at King's to allow Wilkins to reconstruct a popular account of DNA work at King's to counteract claims made by the recently published biography of Rosalind Franklin, by Anne Sayre (1975).

Some Recollections of DNA Studies in the Biophysics Laboratories at King's College. (ref: KPP178/5/6)

He described the atmosphere at King's as "friendly and positive". The interdisciplinary subject of biophysics was excitingly innovative and Gosling describes being 'exhilarated' by the prospect of investigating the 'dynamics of the single cell'

Some Recollections of DNA Studies in the Biophysics Laboratories at King's College.(ref: KPP178/5/6)

For Gosling, this period at King's could be broken down into four stages: firstly, the preliminary work around DNA before x-ray diffraction studies began and culminated in the first good crystalline pattern; secondly, the arrival of Franklin and the observation of two phases , Structure A and B, in DNA; thirdly, the interpretation of water content within the specimen and finally the ‘schism’ between Franklin and Wilkins.  

 In his concluding remarks, Gosling notes that it was his belief that Franklin never wholeheartedly believed that the structure was other than helical, despite giving that impression to Wilkins and Stokes. Perhaps the most telling observation is the following:

"If only Rosalind and Maurice had not been such shy people they might have been able to cooperate well in spite of their different views on how to set about solving the structure of DNA". 

You can read the full account of Raymond Gosling's reflections on his DNA work at King's via the Wellcome Digital Library- here. 

Not another conference: A letter from Sir Nevill Mott on the proliferation of anti-nuclear disarmament splinter groups

While trawling through the papers relating to political activism it is difficult it is difficult to keep track of the myriad political groups and bodies that crop up - for instance, the many different groups campaigning against nuclear disarmament in the 1970s and 1980s: While groups like CND and Pugwash are fairly well known, there are much smaller less familiar groups, such as Scientists against Nuclear Arms (SANA), Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (MCANW),   World Disarmament Campaign, Teachers for Peace, Nuclear Warfare Tribunal -  and this doesn't include campaigns run by broader spectrum organisations such as Food and Disarmament International (FDI) and World Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW). In a word: confusing.

However, it seems I was not alone in finding it difficult to navigate the various groups, as this letter to Wilkins from physicist Sir Nevill Mott attests.

Sir Nevill was dubious about attending a conference on nuclear disarmament for fear of “unstructured waffle”. He explains: “I think the invitation put me off. They don’t say what their foundation is, what its first conference achieved, when it begins, what the real objectives are, who’s funding it.”  Mott’s opinions were seemingly coloured by a recent experience at a local group meeting organised by a Vicar in a nearby parish where he was surprised by the attendance of hard-line CND. He states: “I was very repelled- they would not think about practical ways of stopping the arms race, no first use, oppose star wars- but just paraded their consciences for 2 weary hours”.

This is not to cast aspersions on the importance of these causes, or on to scientists like Maurice Wilkins, who was actively involved in many. As I have previously posted, the campaign to investigate the work done within the Microbiological Research Establishment at Porton Down led by the “Conference on Chemical and Biological Warfare” or the awareness campaign on the poison gas attack on the Kurds by Iraq by the International Scientists’ Congress were admirable feats. There are many more examples that will be included in the digitised papers of Maurice Wilkins and hopefully not many examples of “unstructured waffle”! 

A flyer for a Greenwich CND meeting from 1981: Maurice Wilkins was an active member of his local branch and  gave many talks on the dangers of nuclear weapons across the country.

Digitising X-rays: the digitisation of the Biophysics collection

In this week’s post, I discuss some of the digitisation aspects of the project with special reference to the work of one of our digitisation contractors, MAX (previously MAX COMMUNCATIONS,) who digitised 4,000 of the glass and acetate material.

In October 2011, two of the digitisers from Max Ltd visited the archives in order to familiarise themselves with the collection and carry out some test scanning. The material was quite diverse: photographic prints, x-ray acetates, various sizes of glass plate negatives, folded negative rolls and 35mm mounted slides. The majority of this material required external specialists with the required expertise and equipment to undertake the scanning. A small test file was created composed of quarter plate glass negatives and x-ray acetates and sent to the Wellcome for approval. Both Iain Stringer, who would go on to digitise the collection, and David Cordery, head of Max Ltd, have prior professional experience of working with glass plate and acetate x-ray collections at various institutions  around the UK and we were fully confident of their ability to handle the fragile items and successfully scan them. The test images that were sent to the Wellcome were approved and scanning commenced in December 2011.

 The images were scanned at 300 dpi (dots per inch) at 8-bit (bit rate) RGB (Red Green Blue) using an Epsom V750 Pro scanner. This type of flatbed scanner is reliable and fast and from a preservation perspective, the scanner was suitable for digitising the x-ray acetates as the two- inch gap between the bed of the scanner and the top scanner head meant that it did not press onto the x-rays and so would not cause any further damage to the x-rays afflicted with vinegar syndrome (vinegar syndrome occurs when an acetate degrades and begins to oxidise creating a vinegar smell. The surface often begins to warp and crack and this eventually affects the emulsion. Unfortunately the process is irreversible and it is why digitisation is one of the most effective ways of preserving an accessible copy of the item.)

An example of an X-ray acetate diffraction image from the collection.  The  sleeve caption information has been added to the image. This diffraction image was taken by Wilkins around 1953-1955 and the likely source of the DNA originated from human subjects supplied by Leonard Hamilton and Ralph Barclay of the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

I asked Iain to tell me about his experience scanning our material compared to his previous experience with similar collections. He said that the plates, in terms of general condition, were some of the best that he has worked with as hardly any were chipped or broken. The only slight issue that he encountered was that some of the slides were mounted with red strips, the adhesive of which had begun to seep and caused them to attach themselves to their transparent sleeves. In such cases, he therefore had to carefully remove the slide from its sleeve. This required a degree of perseverance, depending on the age and location of the adhesive strips on the slide.  

Regarding the x-ray acetates, I had assumed that this material would be trickier to scan considering the conditions that some of them were in. Iain surprised me by saying that for the purposes of scanning they were quicker to scan than the glass plates. Whilst care had to be taken in handling small, fragile and brittle objects like deteriorating x-ray acetates, the most time consuming element of scanning an x-ray was the post-production.

MAX Ltd provided us with images in three formats:  the raw TIFF original file, the enhanced TIFF amended file and a JPEG file. While enhancing an image can be difficult with regard to obtaining an authentic copy of the original, in a situation where the original is difficult to discern, post-production ‘clean up’ is necessary. The majority of the x-ray acetates retained a degree of visible content and by using Adobe Photoshop post production, it made it easier to enhance the original pattern of the x-ray and compensate for some of the surface damage caused by any deterioration.

Finally, I asked Iain what he thought of the acetate and glass material as a whole. He said:

“ I found the material quite interesting…I’ve learnt more about DNA than I have since school,, good thing about my job that I don’t have to concentrate on one specific thing. X-rays of DNA, diffraction, very interesting. They would definitely make a good print, stretched over a canvas, especially one of the really clear ones like ‘Photo 51’”

I agreed, diffraction patterns such as ‘Photo 51’ are visually striking though I personally am more in awe about the crystalline A-form DNA pictures as there is something rather mesmerising about the symmetry of these patterns. You can judge for yourself however, as these two x-ray patterns are shown below.

A-form DNA

B-form DNA