Photo 51
1952 photograph of DNA / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photo 51 is an X-ray based fiber diffraction image of a paracrystalline gel composed of DNA fiber[1] taken by Raymond Gosling,[2][3] a postgraduate student working under the supervision of Rosalind Franklin in May 1952 at King's College London, while working in Sir John Randall's group.[4][5][6][7][8] The image was tagged "photo 51" because it was the 51st diffraction photograph that Franklin had taken.[9] It was critical evidence[10] in identifying the structure of DNA.[11]
This article is about the historic DNA X-ray diffraction image. For the play by Anna Ziegler, see Photograph 51 (play).