The Dark Lady of DNA, Onstage

A new play opening in Hollywood, called "Photograph 51," will focus on the role of Rosalind Franklin in the discovery of the structure of DNA, reports SciAm.com. The play covers events from 1951 to 1953, including when Maurice Wilkins shows James Watson the X-ray diffraction photograph that Franklin took showing the shape of DNA. Director Simon Levy says that Franklin's character is "very self-assertive and determined, a work-ethic driven woman trying to establish herself in what was then a very male-dominated world" and is "a brilliant scientist but sort of socially inept [who] has difficulty dealing with her strength and her spirit."