Hey Susie, Here is some info directly from
Excel Biology.
Their role in determining the structure of DNA
Watson: Along with Crick, Watson suggested the double helix structure of DNA. Watson and Crick also suggested the pairing of the bases (adenine with thymine and cytosine with guanine), they suggested that this pairing made a possible copying mechanism for genetic material - that is, a way for DNA to replicate itself.
Crick: After the structure of DNA had been worked out, Crick went on to study the genetic code - the way in which the message of DNA is translated into action in the cell.
Franklin: Franklin provided the scientific evidence upon which Watson and Crick based their double helix model. Franklin learned the techniques of X-ray diffraction and initially used the technique to describe in detail the structure of carbon. She went on to apply the technique to DNA fibres obtained by Wilkins. Sexism was rife in science at this time (1940s - 1950s) and Franklin struggled to be respected for her work. Watson vilifies her throughout his account of the discovery of DNA as a mad feminist scientist and yet acknowledges her personal honesty and generosity. Failure to collaborate with Franklin slowed progress.
Wilkins: Wilkins became interested in the structure of large molecules and supplied the X-ray diffraction patterns that made it possible for Watson and Crick to construct the model for the structure of DNA. (Some references note that the diffraction patterns were pictures that Franklin had produced and that Wilkins had amassed without her permission.)
In 1962, Watson, Crick and Wilkins won the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. Franklin had died four years earlier.
There you go
Directly from my book. I was typing at around 100 wpm.. Crazy eh?
