Nobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson has died at the age of 97.
His co-discovery of the structure of DNA opened the door to explaining how DNA replicates and carries genetic information, setting the stage for rapid advances in molecular biology.
But he was stripped of his honorary titles in 2019 after he repeated comments about race and intelligence. On one television program he referred to the view that genes, on average, determine the difference between blacks and whites on IQ tests.
The death of Watson, who co-discovered the DNA double helix in 1953, was confirmed by the BBC at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he worked and researched for decades.
In 1962, Watson shared the Nobel Prize with Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick for their discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.
“We have discovered the secret of life,” they said then.
His comments about race led him to state that he felt ostracized by the scientific community.
In 2007, a scientist who once worked at Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory told The Times that he was “inherently gloomy about Africa's prospects” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, when all the tests say they are not.”
These comments led to him losing his job as director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.
His additional comments in 2019, when he further suggested a link between race and intelligence, led the lab to strip him of the honorary titles of Chancellor Emeritus, Oliver R. Grace Professor Emeritus, and Trustee Emeritus.
“Dr. Watson's statements are reprehensible and not supported by science,” the lab said in a statement, adding that it effectively rescinded his apology.
DNA was discovered in 1869, but researchers had yet to discover its structure, and it was not until 1943 that scientists realized that DNA constituted the genetic material in cells.
Working with images taken by King's College researcher Rosalind Franklin, without her knowledge, Crick and Watson were able to construct a physical model of the molecule.
In 2014, Watson sold his Nobel Prize gold medal at auction for $4.8 million (£3.6 million).
He said he plans to sell the medal because he was ostracized by the scientific community after his remarks about race.
