which year scientists described the structure of dna? james and francis , with the help of x-ray diffraction images taken by rosalind .
These four scientistsâWatson, Crick, Franklin, and Wilkinsâcodiscovered the double-helix structure of DNA, which formed the basis for modern biotechnology. Home / Learn / Historical Biographies At Kingâs College London, Rosalind Franklin obtained images of DNA using X-ray crystallography, an idea first broached by Maurice Wilkins. Franklinâs images allowed James Watson and Francis Crick to create their famous two-strand, or double-helix, model. In 1962 Watson (b. 1928), Crick (1916â2004), and Wilkins (1916â2004) jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their 1953 determination of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).