Franklin determines the first detailed structure of a virus, TMV, at Birkbeck.
By 1954, at Birkbeck College, Rosalind Franklin headed a team that achieved the first detailed structural determination of a virus, demonstrating that the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) consisted of protein molecules arranged in a helical formation with a single RNA molecule. This research established the fundamental nature of TMV as a single-stranded RNA wrapped in a protein coat, opening a new understanding in molecular biology regarding the simplicity and efficiency of viral structures. This was the first time such clear structure for a virus had been determined.