Final answer:
Francis Crick and James Watson are credited with the discovery of DNA's double helix structure, with crucial contributions from Maurice Wilkins and notably Rosalind Franklin, whose X-ray diffraction work provided essential data. Although Franklin's contributions were pivotal, she was not awarded the Nobel Prize due to her death prior to the award being given.
Step-by-step explanation:
Discovery of DNA's Molecular Structure
The discovery of the molecular structure of DNA was primarily attributed to Francis Crick and James Watson in the 1950s at the University of Cambridge. These scientists are often credited for piecing together the double helix structure. However, they were not alone in their pursuit. Other critical players included Maurice Wilkins, who provided experimental proof, and Rosalind Franklin, whose X-ray diffraction images of DNA were pivotal to confirming the double helix model. Linus Pauling was also a significant figure in the field at that time, known for discovering the secondary structure of proteins.
Franklin's X-ray diffraction work with her student Raymond Gosling revealed two forms of DNA, enabling a deeper understanding of the DNA structure. Unfortunately, Franklin's contributions were not recognized with a Nobel Prize due to her untimely death before the award was granted to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins in 1962. The Nobel Prize does not get awarded posthumously.
Chargaff's rules were another piece of the puzzle, showing that the four types of nucleotides in DNA always appeared in specific pairings. This insight contributed to the understanding of how DNA strands are held together. The X-ray crystallography methods were instrumental in revealing important information about the molecular structure, exemplified by the work of both Franklin and earlier scientists like William Astbury.