WiE-UC November Newsletter

ISSUE

26 November 2022

WIE - UC NEWSLETTER IEEE Student Branch of the UC Women in Engineering Affinity Group

WHAT'S WHAT'S INSIDE: INSIDE:

Biography of Rosalind Franklin - P. 1

Achievement of Elizabeth H. Blackburn - P.2

Curiosity - P.2

Recipes with WiE P.3

ISSUE NO. 26 | NOVEMBER 2022

Biography ROSALIND FRANKLIN Rosalind Franklin was born on July 25, 1920 and died on April 16, 1958. Franklin was a British scientist (chemist and X-ray crystallographer) and is best known for her contributions to the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal, and graphite. Even though her works on coal and viruses were appreciated in her lifetime, those on the structure of DNA were largely unrecognized during her life.

Rosalind Franklin was born into a BritishJewish family. She attended the Lindores School for Young Ladies in Sussex and the St. Paul's Girls' School in London, before going to the University of Cambridge to study physical chemistry. In 1941, she graduated and received a fellowship to conduct research in physical chemistry, at Cambridge. Although, due to World War II, Franklin changed her course of action becoming a London air raid warden and going to work for the British Coal Utilization Research Association, in 1942, where she investigated the physical chemistry of carbon and coal for the war effort. Still, she used this research for her doctoral thesis receiving, in 1945, a doctorate from Cambridge. From 1947 to 1950 she worked with Jacques Méring at the State Chemical Laboratory in Paris, studying X-ray diffraction technology. That led to her research on the structural changes caused by the formation of graphite in heated carbons—work that proved valuable for the coking industry.

In 1951, she joined King’s College Biophysical Laboratory in London, as a research fellow where she applied X-ray diffraction methods to study DNA. At the beginning of her research, almost nothing was known about the DNA structure. Nonetheless, she discovered the density of DNA and, more importantly, established that the molecule existed in a helical conformation. Her work with the DNA molecules laid the foundation

SOURCE: WINSATNYU.WORDPRESS.COM

for other scientists to suggest in 1953 that the structure of DNA is a double-helix polymer, a spiral consisting of two DNA strands wound around each other.

From 1953 to 1958, Franklin worked in the Crystallography Laboratory at Birkbeck College, London, where she completed her work on coals and DNA and began a project on the molecular structure of the tobacco mosaic virus. Rosalind Franklin also collaborated on studies showing that the ribonucleic acid (RNA) in that virus was embedded in its protein rather than in its central cavity and that this RNA was a single-strand helix, rather than the double helix, like DNA. Sadly, she died of cancer in 1958, ending her cutting-edge DNA research.

Sofia Diogo PAGE 1

ISSUE NO. 26 | NOVEMBER 2022

Achievement ELIZABETH H. BLACKBURN

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, born on the 26th of November 1948, Tasmania, Australia, received in 2009 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak. They were awarded "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase."

In 1980, Elizabeth Blackburn discovered that telomeres have a particular DNA and a couple of years later, Blackburn and Szostak together discovered that this unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation. Later, in 1984, Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn were able to identify telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. In short: if the telomeres are shortened, cells age.

On the other hand, if telomerase activity is high, telomere length is maintained, and cellular senescence is delayed, as can be observed in cancer cells. Certain inherited diseases, in contrast, are characterized by a defective telomerase, resulting in damaged cells. Having that said, these discoveries have been key to the development of new therapeutic strategies.

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA.COM

Mariana Almeida

Curiosity of the month...

Have you ever seen the Disney movie “Cheaper by the dozen”? Did you know that that movie was inspired by a semi-autobiographical novel, that tells the story of Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth and their 12 children?

Lillian Evelyn Gilbreth was an American psychologist, industrial engineer, consultant, and educator who was an early pioneer in applying psychology to time-and-motion studies. Being one of the first female engineers to earn a Ph.D., she was the first industrial/organizational psychologist.

SOURCE: THEFAMOUSPEOPLE.COM

PAGE 2

ISSUE NO. 26 | NOVEMBER 2022

Together with her husband, they become experts who contributed to the study of industrial engineering, especially in the areas of motion study and human factors. On top of that, they had twelve children at home to take care of.

Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes, written by two of their children, tell the story of how their parents were able to combine their academic life with their home life and how they used time-and-motion studies with the organization and daily activities of their large family.

This shows that even in 1900s women could be mothers and still have such an important academic life!

Sofia Diogo

Recipes with WiE: CHOCOLATE SALAMI

This recipe is perfect for lazy days, while getting cozy on the couch watching Gilmore Girls or reading a book by the fire. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS 5 gems 200g of chocolate in po 125g of butter or margarine 150g of Maria biscuit 150g of sugar

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ISSUE NO. 26 | NOVEMBER 2022

INSTRUCTIONS Work the butter until you get a cream. Add the yolks, one by one, the chocolate, the broken cookies in small pieces and the sugar. Mix everything very well, shape in a roll-shaped form and wrap it in aluminum foil, moistened with brandy. Squeeze the roll well inside the sheet and roll it up. Place in a small place for a few hours.

Mariana Almeida

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ISSUE NO. 26 | NOVEMBER 2022