Final answer:
Rosalind Franklin collected the X-ray diffraction data that James Watson and Francis Crick used to construct the DNA double helix model. Despite her significant contribution, Franklin was not awarded the Nobel Prize posthumously. The correct option is C. Francis Crick and James Watson
Step-by-step explanation:
The data upon which Crick and Watson based their model of the DNA double helix were from X-ray diffraction patterns collected by Rosalind Franklin.
In the 1950s, researchers were fervently trying to understand the structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin, working in Maurice Wilkins' lab, used X-ray diffraction methods to demonstrate the helical nature of DNA.
Meanwhile, Francis Crick had also studied X-ray diffraction and, together with James Watson, utilized Franklin's data to deduce the double-stranded structural model of DNA.
Their groundbreaking work, along with additional crucial information such as Chargaff's rules, led to the proposal of the DNA double helix.
However, while Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962, Franklin had passed away by then and was not awarded posthumously. The correct option is C. Francis Crick and James Watson