On November 6, James D. Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, died at the age of 97. His death was confirmed by his son, Duncan, who explained that Watson was in a hospice in East Northport, Long Island, at the time of death, according to the The New York Times.
Watson was born in Chicago in 1928 and grew up in the city. He was drawn to genetics after reading Erwin Schrödinger’s book What Is Life?. Watson obtained a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1947 and a PhD from Indiana University Bloomington in 1950. Later, he worked at the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory in England. At the lab, Watson, only 24 years old then, along with British physicist Francis Crick, proposed the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953.
Almost a decade later, in 1962, Watson’s efforts were recognized as he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with co-discoverer Crick and another British biophysicist, Maurice Wilkins. The three were awarded “for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material,” as stated on the official Nobel Prize website.
Watson asserted his legacy in the field by initiating and leading the Human Genome Project, whose goal is to identify and map all of the three billion base pairs of the human genome. During his time as the first director of this project, he recruited leading scientists, set the project’s agenda, included international researchers, and advised that the National Institute of Health should help the federal government run the project, according to The Times.
Even in Tenafly Public Schools, students learn in seventh-grade science class that DNA looks like a spiral staircase or twisted ladder, with two complementary strands of nucleotides maintained by the hydrogen bonds between the base pairs of adenine-thymine (A-T) and guanine-cytosine (G-C). The fact that this discovery is incorporated in our middle school curriculum explains how massive this discovery is.
Not only do we see double-helix structures in science class, but they are also present in other objects that define our daily lives. As PBS News explains, “the double helix would become an instantly recognized symbol of science, showing up in such places as the work of Salvador Dali and a British postage stamp.”
Despite Watson’s groundbreaking achievements in the scientific world, he has been criticized for racist, homophobic, and sexist remarks. He repeatedly asserted that black people are less smart than white people due to their genes on various occasions, including on a PBS documentary about him. The scientific community condemned his view, and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory that he helped transform into a global research institute reprieved all ties with him in 2019.
Watson’s life was marked by great scientific achievement and serious controversy. His co-discovery of the DNA double helix transformed biology and medicine, helping to understand the mechanism of genes and leading to many essential medical advances today. Yet his later comments on race and other marginalized groups damaged his legacy. Watson’s story serves as a reminder that even the most groundbreaking contributions to humanity do not excuse views that hurt people’s dignity and equality.
