James Watson, who helped unravel DNA's double-helix, has died

"Watson was born in Chicago in 1928 and attained scientific fame in 1953 at 25 years old for solving the molecular structure of DNA-the genetic blueprints for life-with his colleague Francis Crick at England's Cavendish laboratory. Their discovery heavily relied on the work of chemist and crystallographer Rosalind Franklin at King's College in London, whose X-ray images of DNA provided critical clues to the molecule's twisted-ladderlike architecture. One image in particular from Franklin's lab, Photo 51, made Watson and Crick's discovery possible."

"Watson, Crick, and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for the discovery of DNA's structure. By that time, Franklin had died (she died in 1958 at the age of 37 from ovarian cancer), and Nobels are not given posthumously. But Watson and Crick's treatment of Franklin and her research has generated lasting scorn within the scientific community. Throughout his career and in his memoir, Watson disparaged Franklin's intelligence and appearance."

James Dewey Watson died at 97 in a hospice in East Northport, New York, after a recent hospitalization for an infection. His death was confirmed by his son Duncan and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Watson co-discovered DNA's double-helix structure with Francis Crick in 1953, relying on Rosalind Franklin's X-ray images—notably Photo 51—which provided crucial clues and were shared without Franklin's knowledge or consent by Maurice Wilkins. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the 1962 Nobel Prize; Franklin had died in 1958 and could not be awarded posthumously. Watson later made racist and sexist statements and disparaged Franklin.

Read at Ars Technica