James Watson, who is credited with being the co-discoverer of DNA’s double-helix structure, passed away in hospice care on Long Island in New York on Thursday, announced the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He was 97.
A Nobel Laureate, the biologist became one of the most popular 20th century scientists for his breakthrough discovery in 1953 of the double helix, which he conducted along with researcher partner, Francis Crick. The groundbreaking research opened the door to new insights into the working of the human body, including information on genetic code, protein synthesis and criminal DNA testing.
Watson was awarded the Nobel Prize for the work in 1962, which he shared with Crick and Maurice Wilkins. Watson’s other work later in life included cancer research and mapping of the human genome.
But, despite his revolutionary work, Watson’s career was later tainted by his racist remarks, including references to Africans not being as smart as white people, for which he came under fire and finally, bowed out of public life.
He told a British weekly that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really.”
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Watson’s early life was based in Chicago, Illinois, where he was born on April 6, 1928, as James Dewey Watson, and studied at the University of Chicago.
He received a degree in zoology in 1947, after which he went on to receive his PhD in zoology from the Indiana University in Bloomington in 1950.
Working alongside scientists at the University of Cambridge in England, he became interested in the photographic patterns made by X-rays, and began his investigation of the structure of DNA after moving to the University of Copenhagen.
He met researcher Maurice Wilkins in Naples’ Zoological Station in 1951, and later, Crick, forming what would come to be known as a celebrated partnership.
Together, they started working out the double helix on X-ray images obtained by researchers Rosalind Franklin and Wilkins at King’s College, London, and found success in their second attempt, presenting the now iconic image of the double-helical configuration that resembles a twisted ladder.
Their discovery of the DNA molecule being able to duplicate itself was another monumental research in the field of genetics.
Their findings were published in the British journal, ‘Nature’, in April-May 1953.
Watson taught at Harvard for 15 years and was later one of the directors of the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health, where he oversaw the mapping of the genes in the human chromosomes. He also became director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which he is credited with for transforming into a global hub of molecular biology.
However, his racist comments prompted the lab to sever all ties with him in 2020, including his emeritus status, after he made similar statements once again.
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