(How close did Franklin actually come to deciphering the structure of DNA?)  She was very close. She had all the parameters of the helical backbone. She was the one who figured out that there were two forms of DNA, which made solving the whole structure possible. She had figured out that backbone of the A form is antiparallel. It wouldn’t have been very long before she figured out that the B form backbone was antiparallel as well. (What did Watson actually get out of Photo 51 beyond the idea that the “X” signified a helix?)  After Watson saw Photo 51, he went out to dinner with Wilkins and pressed him … Continue reading Lynne Osman Elkin