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.
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