To Wilkins’s presumed dismay and embarrassment, in the summer of 1952 she posted a mock notice around the King’s physics department that said: “It is with great regret that we have to announce the death, on Friday 18th July 1952 of D.N.A. helix…It is hoped that Dr. M. H. F. Wilkins will speak in memory of the late helix.” The outcome of all this was that in January 1953 Wilkins showed Watson Franklin’s images, “apparently without her knowledge or consent.” It would be an understatement to call it a significant help to him. Years later, Watson conceded that it “was the key event…it mobilized
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