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In science as in art, a picture is worth a thousand words. Scientists who study molecular structures have known this ever since James Watson saw Photo 51 and went on to deduce DNA's structure with Francis Crick. Researchers today continue to rely on images of important molecules to confirm their educated guesses. Like Rosalind Franklin, these scientists secure such images using X-ray diffraction techniques, which enable them to study the arrangement of atoms in crystals or crystal-like structures by spraying molecules with X-rays to produce patterns of diffraction.
Today, X-ray diffraction specialists feed such patterns into computer programs that generate colorful 3-D images. As the technology has improved, scientists have also tackled ever more complex biochemical structures, from RNA to ribosomes. The resulting images, like Photo 51, reveal clues about the structures, their interactions with other molecular structures, and their role in human genetics.
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