James Dewey Watson, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who helped unravel the structure of DNA, has died at the age of 97. His son confirmed he died on Thursday in hospice care after a brief illness.
Watson shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for discovering that DNA is a double helix. The breakthrough in 1953 revolutionised medicine, crimefighting and genealogy, and opened the door to genetic engineering and gene therapy.
However, Watson's later years were marred by racist remarks. In 2007, he suggested that black people were less intelligent than white people, leading to his suspension from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, where he had worked for decades. He later apologised but made similar comments in a 2019 documentary, prompting the lab to revoke his honorary titles.
Despite the controversy, Watson was lauded for his early contributions to science. He wrote influential textbooks, helped lead the Human Genome Project, and mentored many young scientists. His son Duncan Watson said: 'He never stopped fighting for people who were suffering from disease.'
