Throughout history, countless female scientists have made groundbreaking contributions to their fields, yet their stories remain untold or forgotten. Many of these women were pioneers in STEM, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and discovery despite facing immense challenges due to their gender, social norms, and the historical period in which they lived. Their achievements were often overshadowed or attributed to male colleagues, leaving their legacies largely unrecognized. In this post, I aim to bring light to their stories and celebrate their work for the impact they have had on shaping the world in which we live today.
Rosalind Franklin - The famous name that now circulates in science classrooms was once unjustly overlooked by the science community. Rosalind Franklin made significant contributions in the field of genetics by conducting pivotal DNA research that ultimately led to a Nobel Prize. Yet, (un)shockingly, she was not one of the recipients of the award. With a Ph.D. in chemistry and expertise in X-ray crystallography, Franklin joined Maurice Wilkins' team at King’s College to study DNA structure—the key to understanding human genetics. However, tensions arose between Franklin and her colleagues, who often deemed her as “too independent”. Despite the challenges, after just a year of working in the lab, Franklin captured the famous X-ray crystallography photograph that made history, Photograph 51, revealing the double-helix structure of DNA. This photograph made its way to Watson and Crick, who were also in a race to discover DNA structure. Along with their research, they used Franklin’s Photograph 51 to build the first model of DNA. Watson and Crick won a Nobel Prize for it, while Rosalind Franklin received no recognition from the scientific community in her lifetime. Though she passed away at the young age of 37 from ovarian cancer, Franklin’s work was crucial to one of the greatest scientific discoveries in history. Today, we honor her legacy by finally giving her the recognition she deserved as a key contributor to the discovery of the structure of DNA.
Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey - Anyone who has taken an organic chemistry class before has heard of the thalidomide tragedy. This chiral molecule was an effective sedative medication in its left-hand form, but the right-hand form was a highly toxic substance which caused birth deformities. Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey was a pharmacologist at the FDA. During her first assignment in 1960, she refused to approve thalidomide due to concerns over its safety. This decision was challenged by manufacturers and colleagues, since the drug was already widely used in Europe. Due to some concerning reports about repeated usage of the drug, Dr. Kelsey took a stance against the approval of thalidomide. The following year, reports linking thalidomide to newborn birth defects in Germany and the UK surfaced. At least 4000 children in Europe were affected by this drug. Dr. Kelsey’s decision against thalidomide ultimately prevented a similar tragedy repeating in America. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy awarded Dr. Kelsey the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, recognizing her role in protecting public health. She also helped shape new drug regulations, mandating safety, efficacy, informed consent, and reporting of adverse reactions.
Lise Meitner - Born in 1878, Lise Meitner earned a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Vienna in 1906 and pursued her passion for research, despite the extremely limited opportunities for women. She conducted significant research in nuclear physics for 30 years. Meitner's Jewish ancestry made her vulnerable to the rising tide of Nazism in 1930s Germany. Stripped of her teaching position in 1933, she fled to Sweden in 1938 with help from Niels Bohr (yes, the one you learned about in chemistry class). While there, her colleague at the Nobel Institute of Physics, Otto Hahn, had been experimenting with uranium by blasting it with neutrons, but he kept finding barium as one of the products. Meitner realized that the uranium nucleus must be splitting into two parts, creating both barium and uranium isotopes. This process was named nuclear fission. In 1944, Otto Hahn received the 1944 Nobel Prize for Physics, while Meitner was never recognized. Meitner, nominated 48 times for Nobel Prizes by her mentors, unfortunately never won, in part due to anti-Semitism and sexism. Meitner continued her research in Sweden and received numerous awards later in life.
Marthe Gautier - Marthe Gautier was a French pediatric cardiologist and researcher known for her critical role in discovering the link between chromosome abnormalities and diseases, particularly Down syndrome. In 1956, Swedish biologists confirmed that humans have 46 chromosomes. Marthe Gautier, part of a pediatrics group at Armand-Trousseau Hospital, offered to test this in patients with Down syndrome using her skills in cell culture. With limited resources, she set up the first in vitro cell culture lab in France. Gautier overcame many challenges, even using her own money and blood to get the lab running. By May 1958, she discovered an extra chromosome in a boy with Down syndrome, marking the first evidence of chromosomal abnormalities in the condition. However, her work was overshadowed when Jérôme Lejeune (an intern at the French National Centre for Scientific Research) took credit for the discovery by publishing the findings under his name. While Gautier was listed as a co-author (with her name misspelled), Lejeune was credited as the main discoverer. In 2014, Gautier was set to speak about her contributions at a conference, but the presentation was canceled due to legal concerns raised by the Lejeune Foundation. Marthe Gautier received her award privately, and later that year, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research ethics committee acknowledged her vital role in the discovery. Despite being sidelined in her time, Gautier was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 2014.
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