James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of DNA, has died at age 97

""This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest," Watson and Crick wrote in the published report describing their model, in what has to be science's most famous understatement. Knowing the structure of DNA made it suddenly obvious how a single molecule could both encode life's complexity and also reproduce itself, showing that this was the long-sought key to understanding the physical mechanisms of heredity."

"But when Watson died this week at the age of 97, his renown as the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA was tarnished by the fact that he had become a persona non grata in the two research fields that he pioneered: molecular biology and genomics. Watson's penchant for making prejudiced and scientifically unfounded remarks about Black people, women, and others eventually forced even the institution that he had long directed, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, to cut all ties with him in 2019."

James Watson elevated DNA from an obscure molecule to the central symbol of biology and society through his work on DNA's structure. In 1953, Watson and Francis Crick assembled experimental evidence, including X-ray work by Rosalind Franklin, to produce the first accurate chemical model of DNA, revealing how a single molecule encodes complexity and reproduces itself. Historians call the discovery a transformative 'light switch' moment comparable to Darwin's theory. Watson later made prejudiced and scientifically unfounded remarks about Black people, women, and others, prompting Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to cut ties with him in 2019. He died at age 97.

Read at www.npr.org