Physicists And Chemists Of The 20Th Century Codexery

Maurice Wilkins

Biophysicist who pioneered X-ray diffraction studies of DNA.

Last updated

Wilkins was born in Pongaroa, New Zealand, to Irish parents, and moved to Birmingham, England at age six.[1][2][3] After the war, he joined Randall's new biophysics unit at King's College London as assistant director.[4][5] In 1950, Wilkins produced the first X-ray diffraction pictures of DNA fibers, using a pure sample from Rudolf Signer.[6][3] Rosalind Franklin joined the King's team in 1951, and misunderstandings about roles led to tension between her and Wilkins.[7][8]

He later led experiments confirming the double helix in many species and studied RNA structure.[9][3] At a 1951 Naples conference, Wilkins displayed his X-ray diffraction images of DNA; this presentation motivated James Watson to begin investigating DNA's structure.[10][3][5]

What the cited sources add

The Guardian obituary notes that Wilkins rejected the hard physics of war and transitioned into biology out of disgust with the atomic bombings.[3][11] The Independent obituary states that Crick initially advised Wilkins to work on proteins instead of DNA.[5] The same source describes Wilkins as having a gentler personality and finding Franklin's manner intimidating.[8] The Independent reports that Wilkins felt unable to ask for a share of the Signer DNA after Franklin's arrival.[5]

The Independent adds that Wilkins was an outstanding experimentalist whose microscope work benefited his X-ray analysis.[5] The Rosalind Franklin Profiles account describes how Randall wrote to Franklin in November 1950, telling her she would have sole responsibility for DNA crystallographic work, but did not inform Wilkins of this arrangement.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Maurice Wilkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962", NobelPrize.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Maurice Wilkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Student record cards held at King Edward VI Foundation Archive, ref KES/C/3, https://kevi.epexio.com/records/KES/C/3. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Anthony Tucker, "Maurice Wilkins", The Guardian, 6 October 2004. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  4. Wikipedia, "Maurice Wilkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilkins, Ch 5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Watson Fuller, "Professor Maurice Wilkins", The Independent, 9 October 2004. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk
  6. Wikipedia, "Maurice Wilkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilkins, Maurice HF, 'The Molecular Configuration of Nucleic Acids'. 1962 Nobel lecture, 11 December 1962 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Maurice Wilkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Maddox, Brenda (2002). Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA. HarperCollins.; Watson, James D. (2012). The Annotated and Illustrated Double Helix. Touchstone. p. 182. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "The DNA Riddle: King's College, London, 1951–1953", Rosalind Franklin – Profiles in Science, 12 March 2019. facts only, no text reused. profiles.nlm.nih.gov
  9. Wikipedia, "Maurice Wilkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilkins, Maurice HF, 'The Molecular Configuration of Nucleic Acids'. 1962 Nobel lecture, 11 December 1962; Anthony Tucker, "Maurice Wilkins", The Guardian, 6 October 2004; Watson Fuller, "Professor Maurice Wilkins", The Independent, 9 October 2004 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Maurice Wilkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilkins, M.H.F. (2003). The Third Man of the Double Helix. Oxford University Press.; Watson, J.D. (1968). The Double Helix. Atheneum. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Maurice Wilkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alan Travis. "Nobel-winning British scientist accused of spying by MI5, papers reveal", The Guardian, 26 August 2010; "A Bunch of Genes", Radio National, 4 July 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Maurice Wilkins (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Physicists And Chemists Of The 20Th Century

Maria Goeppert MayerMax von LaueMelvin CalvinNicolaas BloembergenNikolay BasovOtto SternPaul BergPaul FloryPercy Williams BridgmanPeter GrünbergPeter HiggsPhilip W. Anderson

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year was Maurice Wilkins born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1916.

2. In which place was Maurice Wilkins born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Pongaroa, New Zealand.

3. In what year did Maurice Wilkins die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 2004.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →