Scot Bastian Ph.D.
  • Home
  • About
  • Artist
  • Scientist
  • Skeptic
  • Multimedia and links
  • Do Ya Think? Blog
  • Contact

"Photograph 51" a play about the discovery of the helical structure of DNA

2/16/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
Rosalind Franklin
Last night I saw the Seattle Repertory theater's production of "Photograph 51,"  which focused on Rosalind Franklin, the unsung hero of the discovery of the structure of DNA.  I really enjoyed the production.  Most of the credit for this discovery has been attributed to James Watson and Francis Crick and, to a lesser extent, Maurice Wilkins.  The three men received  Nobel Prize recognition for the work in 1962.  Dr. Franklin was not awarded the prize, principally because she died of ovarian cancer in 1958 (Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously.)  It is not clear whether she would have received the prize, even if she had lived, because of the prevailing male chauvinism  of the time.  Although I enjoyed the play, one of my big problems with plays based on history, is that it is often difficult what actually happened (this is hard enough when looking through the fog of history) and what is a product of the playwright's imagination.  That being said, I think the play stuck reasonably close to the historical account that I read in Wikipedia.  One of the things that I really enjoyed was the depiction of Franklin as the crusty curmudgeon that apparently she was.  Collegiality, especially in the rough-and-tumble competitive world of research--especially where there are a lot of (mostly male) egos to protect, can get you far.  It seems that, in summary, Franklin provided the data, Wilkins provided the collegiality, and Watson and Crick provided the vision and chutzpah.  Too bad they couldn't all play nice with each other.  But, in the end, what is really important is the DNA.  Personally, I find it breathtaking that we have progressed from the structure of DNA, through recombinant DNA, to the sequencing of the human genome, to the increasing mechanization and digitization of DNA analysis, all in the space of a lifetime.  My lifetime, that is.      
2 Comments
Carl Nelson link
2/17/2013 03:02:04 am

Interesting. What's "Photograph 51"?

Reply
Scot Bastian
2/17/2013 04:29:04 am

It is the x-Ray image that was the primary clue to the structure of DNA. Here is more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_51

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Scot Bastian Ph.D. is a scientist and artist who lives in Seattle WA.

    Archives

    May 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All
    Burning Man
    Frogs
    Rational Hero
    Science
    Science Fiction
    Skepticism
    Theater
    Words

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly