James D Watson, co-discoverer of DNA’s twisted-ladder structure, dies aged 97 | US news
James D Watson, who ignited a revolution in medicine, crime fighting, genealogy and ethics by discovering the twisted ladder structure of DNA in 1953, has passed away, according to his former research laboratory. He was 97 years old.
This breakthrough, made when the enterprising Chicago-born Watson was just 24 years old, made him a sacred figure in the world of science for decades. But towards the end of his life he faced condemnation and professional censorship for his offensive remarks, including saying that blacks were less intelligent than whites.
Watson shared the 1962 Nobel prize with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for his discovery that deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a double helix, consisting of two strands that wind around each other to form something that resembles a long, gently spiraling ladder.
This awareness was a turning point. It immediately revealed how hereditary information is stored and how cells copy their DNA as they divide. Replication begins with two strands of DNA pulling apart like a zipper.
The double helix would become an instantly recognizable symbol of science, even among non-scientists, appearing in the works of Salvador Dali and on such places as British postage stamps.
The discovery helped open the door to newer advances such as altering the genetic structure of living things, treating diseases by inserting genes into patients, identifying human remains and criminal suspects from DNA samples, and tracing family trees. But it also raised a number of ethical questions, such as whether the body’s plan should be altered for cosmetic reasons or to be passed on to a person’s child.
“Francis Crick and I made the discovery of the century, that was pretty obvious,” Watson once said. “We had no way of foreseeing the explosive impact of the double helix on science and society,” he later wrote.
