Excerpt:
By 1952, much was known about DNA, including its exclusive role as genetic material - the sole substance capable of storing all the information needed to create a living being. What was not yet known was what the elusive DNA molecule looked like, or how it performed this amazing hereditary function. This would change in the course of a single year. The now familiar double helical structure of DNA, and the base-pairing crucial to its hereditary function, were deciphered in 1953, and the individuals most commonly associated with this remarkable feat are James Watson and Francis Crick. Maurice Wilkins played a crucial role as well, and he shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine with Watson and Crick for the discovery. However, another important figure remains, without whom the discovery would not have been possible: the brilliant but short-lived Rosalind Franklin.