DNA pioneer James Watson dies at 97

Nobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson passed away at the age of 97.

The joint discovery of the structure of DNA opened the door to helping explain how DNA replicates and carries genetic information, paving the way for rapid advances in molecular biology.

But in 2019, he was stripped of his honorary degrees after he repeated comments about race and intelligence. In a television program, he referred to the view that genes create average differences in IQ tests between blacks and whites.

The death of Watson, who discovered the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, was confirmed to the BBC by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he worked and conducted research for decades.

Watson shared the Nobel Prize in 1962 with Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick for the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.

They said at the time, “We discovered the secret of life.”

His comments about race led him to say he felt ostracized by the scientific community.

The scientist, who once worked at the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, told the Times newspaper in 2007 that he was “inherently pessimistic about Africa’s future” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, whereas all the tests show they are not.”

The comments caused him to lose his job as chancellor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.

His additional comments in 2019 led the laboratory to strip him of honorary titles such as chancellor emeritus, Oliver R Grace professor emeritus and trustee emeritus.

In the statement made by the laboratory, it was stated that “Dr. Watson’s statements are reprehensible and not supported by science” and that his apology was effectively rejected.