NOVA investigates Rosalind Franklin's life and her unsung contribution to one of science's greatest discoveries: DNA

April 2003 marked the 50th anniversary of one of science's great milestones - the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA. This "cracking" of life's essential molecular "cookbook" was credited to three British scientists, James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins. But their breakthrough would have been impossible without the work of a brilliant molecular biologist and crystallographer named Rosalind Franklin. In 1962, when the three men were awarded a Nobel Prize for their discovery, Franklin's name wasn't even mentioned. Tragically, she had died of cancer, four years earlier at age 37. The cancer was probably the result of radiation exposure she suffered while taking the x-ray photographs of the DNA that were directly responsible for decoding its structure. NOVA investigates the life of Rosalind Franklin and her unsung contribution to one of science's greatest discoveries. Actress Sigourney Weaver narrates.

March 2005( check local listings)