Final answer:
James Watson, Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin are the scientists fundamentally linked to the discovery of the DNA structure. Crick and Watson used Franklin's X-ray diffraction images, especially the crucial Photo 51, to determine the double helix arrangement of DNA.
Step-by-step explanation:
The scientists who contributed significantly to the foundations of molecular genetics include Gregor Mendel, James Watson, Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin. However, the ones primarily associated with molecular genetics and the discovery of the structure of DNA are James Watson, Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin.
In the 1950s, Francis Crick and James Watson collaborated at the University of Cambridge, England, to figure out the structure of DNA. They were guided by the pivotal X-ray diffraction images of DNA produced by Rosalind Franklin, who was working in Maurice Wilkins' lab. These high-resolution images, including the famous Photo 51, played a crucial role in elucidating DNA's double helix structure. Although Watson and Crick are often credited with the discovery of the DNA double helix, Franklin's contributions were fundamental, though her acknowledgement was posthumous due to her untimely death.