"Watson shared a 1962 Nobel Prize with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for discovering that deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a double helix, consisting of two strands that coil around each other to create what resembles a long, gently twisting ladder. That realization was a breakthrough. It instantly suggested how hereditary information is stored and how cells duplicate their DNA when they divide. The duplication begins with the two strands of DNA pulling apart like a zipper."
"The discovery helped open the door to more recent developments such as tinkering with the genetic makeup of living things, treating disease by inserting genes into patients, identifying human remains and criminal suspects from DNA samples and tracing family trees. But it has also raised a host of ethical questions, such as whether we should be altering the body's blueprint for cosmetic reasons or in a way that is transmitted to a person's offspring."
James D. Watson co-discovered the double-helix structure of DNA at age 24, a finding that explained how hereditary information is stored and duplicated. He shared the 1962 Nobel Prize with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for that discovery. The double helix became an iconic scientific symbol and enabled developments in gene modification, gene therapy, forensic identification, and genealogy. Those advances brought complex ethical questions about altering human heredity and cosmetic genetic changes. Watson later wrote influential textbooks but did not make another discovery of comparable impact. Near the end of his life, he faced condemnation and professional censure for offensive racist remarks. He died at 97.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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