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Seventy-three years after his aunt, Rosalind Franklin, took the famous Photo 51, Richard Franklin shot this image, part of a series called “The Double Helix.” Because DNA is microscopic, he developed an alternative optical approach to produce a structurally informed visual analogue. Mr. Franklin sees the photograph as “a responsible and meaningful way to help communicate the structure and presence of the Double Helix B form to a broader public audience” and describes the result as an “artistic–scientific interpretation.”
Published March 12, 2026