For the discovery of the correct chemical structure of DNA, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962 was shared by her colleagues and close researchers James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins; she had died four years earlier in 1958 making her ineligible for the award.

[6] By then, James Watson and Francis Crick at Cambridge University had built a correct double helical model of DNA, based on her experimental data.

[4] The main motive for Sayre's book came from James Watson's memoir The Double Helix : A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA.

Published in 1968, The Double Helix reflected the account of the discovery in which Franklin was portrayed as "uninteresting", "belligerent", and "sharp, stubborn mind", referring her as "Rosy", the name she did not want to be called.

[12] Sayre's book gave Franklin an important place in the history of science, as a major contributor to the discovery of the structure of DNA.

However, the book is written from a strong feminist standpoint, portraying Franklin as an icon of the movement, and allegedly misrepresenting the nature of sexism at the time.

[18] However, Lynne Osman Elkin has asserted that most of the MRC group (including Franklin) typically ate lunch together in the mixed dining room discussed below.

[19] Maddox has concurred, asserting that Randall "liked to see his flock, men and women, come together for morning coffee, and at lunch in the joint dining room, where he ate with them nearly every day.

[22] That has led to accusations of sexism in Ellis Franklin's attitude to Rosalind, as well as the allegation that he strongly opposed her entering Newnham College.

[26] Glynn has accused Sayre of making her sister a feminist heroine,[27] and called Rosalind Franklin and DNA "the start of what has become something of a 'Rosalind Industry'."