Final answer:
Rosalind Franklin's expertise in x-ray crystallography and her high-quality x-ray diffraction images were crucial in uncovering DNA's double helix structure, which aided Watson and Crick in building their model, although she was not awarded the Nobel Prize due to her untimely death.
Step-by-step explanation:
Contributions of Rosalind Franklin to the Discovery of DNA Structure
Rosalind Franklin played a pivotal role in uncovering the structure of DNA through her expertise in x-ray diffraction. Franklin, a skilled x-ray crystallographer, captured images that were central to identifying DNA's double helix structure. While working in Maurice Wilkins' lab, she produced high-quality x-ray diffraction images, notably of the wet (type "B") and dry (type "A") forms of DNA, which illustrated the helical nature of this molecule.
Her images provided James Watson and Francis Crick with the crucial evidence they needed to build their DNA model. Unfortunately, Franklin's death in 1958 meant she was not recognized by the Nobel Prize committee, which does not award prizes posthumously. Her contributions have since gained acknowledgement, emphasizing her significant yet undercredited role in this scientific breakthrough.