In 1953, the missing piece to the DNA puzzle was found: Photograph 51, one of the most iconic images in scientific history. But while James Watson and Francis Crick are immortalized for unlocking the structure of life with this photo, the woman who captured the image was left out of the spotlight. 

Rosalind Elsie Franklin, an influential Jewish chemist, made groundbreaking contributions to the discovery of DNA’s structure. Nevertheless, she was largely unrecognized during her lifetime. From the age of fifteen, Franklin was determined to become a scientist. After earning a doctorate in physical chemistry, Franklin joined Maurice Wilkins’ team at King’s College. She was an expert in X-ray crystallography, a technique used to determine the structure of crystals. Utilizing this tool in Wilkin’s lab, Franklin captured the revolutionary Photograph 51, key to discovering the double helix structure of DNA.

A year after this monumental image was taken, the scientists James Watson and Francis Crick published their model of DNA which included Franklin's Photograph 51 and research. Yet, they failed to credit her for her vital contributions. A decade later, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize for their DNA discovery, while Franklin was excluded. Watson’s book “The Double Helix” recognized her pivotal contributions only posthumously.

Franklin’s experience was not unique. For centuries, exclusionary attitudes and practices have kept women out of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, limiting their access to both research and education. In the early eighteenth century, women pursuing higher education in these disciplines struggled to find institutions that would admit them. Even when women’s medical colleges were founded in the late nineteenth century, they were often underfunded and lacked the prestige of their male-only counterparts.

For women who were able to complete their education, discrimination followed them into the workplace. Many hospitals and labs blatantly refused to hire women. Those who were hired were often delegated to lower-paying roles, denied promotions or faced misogynistic treatment. In fact, when Franklin first met Maurice Wilkins, he assumed she was a new secretary. Despite her doctorate and years of scientific experience, Wilkins refused to recognize Franklin as an equal colleague. In his memoir, he wrote that he called Franklin by the nickname “Rosy,” undermining her professional status, and criticized her for having an “attitude” and being “too independent.”

While the number of women in STEM fields has increased since Franklin’s time, scientific and medical fields remain male-dominated workspaces. A survey performed by the Pew Research Center in 2017 reported that 50 percent of women in STEM careers experienced workplace discrimination due to their gender. Additionally, the gender wage gap remains particularly vast in STEM fields.

The exclusion of women from STEM has resulted in significant consequences. Certain medical treatments or diagnoses fail to sufficiently consider women’s physiology. For example, heart attack symptoms are historically based on male experiences—chest pain, shortness of breath, and nausea—while women often experience subtler symptoms like fatigue or dizziness.

Similarly, mental health conditions like depression and anxiety have also historically been underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed in women. With diagnostic criteria primarily based on male patients and developed by male physicians, gender bias emerged in treatment. For example, Victorian Era women who deviated from the socially expected model of passive femininity were sometimes confined to asylums. It is heartbreaking to imagine how many women might have escaped similar fates if only a female physician or scientist had been there to validate their struggles and advocate for their well-being.

Rosalind Franklin, along with countless other trailblazing women, exemplify the power of resilience in the face of adversity. We can no longer let their legacies be overlooked. Instead, we must place the spotlight back on these women and other marginalized groups, whose courage and perseverance paved the way for the opportunities we now enjoy—freedoms they were once denied. As an aspiring oncologist and scientist, I am both inspired by women like Franklin and reminded of the progress that has yet to be made. Her story reinforces my commitment to defying gender standards and making meaningful contributions to my field that can help others, just as she did. By breaking down the barriers that seek to constrain us we honor the lives of these pioneering women and create a more inclusive society—where STEM is open to anyone, regardless of gender.