Feminists vandalise blue plaque to DNA discovery scientists Francis Crick and James Watson in tribute to ‘forgotten’ female researcher Rosalind Franklin
Chemist's work was vital in uncovering the structure of 'building blocks of life' but she is not as famous as the men who won a Nobel Prize for their research
A FEMINIST vandal has targeted a historical pub and added the name of a "forgotten" female scientist to a historic blue plaque celebrating the two men who discovered the structure of the DNA.
The sign outside of The Eagle pub in Cambridge commemorates the discovery of the DNA double helix in a nearby laboratory by Francis Crick and James Watson.
The pair famously left the Cavendish Laboratory and announced their achievement at the pub in 1953.
However, chemist Rosalind Franklin's work was instrumental in this scientific breakthrough.
She died of ovarian cancer in 1958 and her name is not included on the blue plaque.
That all changed when someone altered the plaque by adding "+Franklin" in a handwritten scrawl.
The sign reads: "DNA Double Helix 1953. 'The Secret of Life'.
"For decades the Eagle was the local pub for scientists from the nearby Cavendish Laboratory.
"It was here on February 28th 1953 that Francis Crick and James Watson first announced their discovery of how DNA carries genetic information.
"Unveiled by James Watson 25th April 2003."
Rosalind's involvement in the discovery is not completely ignored though as there is a smaller commemorative plaque inside the pub dedicated to her.
She was an X-ray crystallographer who took pictures which were instrumental in the discovery of DNA's structure.
Whilst Watson and Crick won a Nobel Prize for their work, Rosalind died of ovarian cancer aged just 37 and slipped into obscurity until recently.
Just last week, on The Great British Bake Off's pastry week, NHS biologist Chuen-Yan's savoury signatures pies paid tribute to her favourite British boffins: Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Rosalind Franklin and Alan Turing.
Rather than devoting a pie to Crick and Watson, Dr Chuen-Yan chose to represent Franklin and Crick.
Dr Rosalind Franklin graduated from University of Cambridge in 1941 and after completing her PhD she moved to Paris, she then worked with Crick and Watson as a research associate for King's College London.
It was here that she took a set of famous photographs of DNA which went on to be used as evidence of its double helix structure.
