James Dewey Watson – American molecular biologist, best known as co-author of the award 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. for the discovery of the structure of DNA and its significance in the transmission of information in living systems. The importance of this discovery cannot be overestimated. It discovered how genes work and launched the fields of molecular biology and evolutionary phylogenetics. It inspired and influenced my career as a scientist and as director Research Center for Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics.
Watson was also outspoken and controversial personality which changed the way science is communicated. He was the first high-ranking Nobel laureate to present a shocking personal and unfiltered view into the cutthroat and competitive world of scientific research. Watson died November 6, 2025 at the age of 97 years.
In search of the gene Watson
Watson entered the University of Chicago at the age of 15. I'm going to become an ornithologist. After reading a collection of public lectures by Erwin Schrödinger on the chemistry and physics of cell functioning,What is Life?“,” he became interested in figuring out what genes were made of—the biggest question in biology at the time.
Chromosomes, a mixture of protein and DNA, were known as the molecules of heredity. But most scientists were convinced that the most likely candidates were proteins, made up of 20 different building blocks, as opposed to DNA, which has just four building blocks. When in 1944 Avery-MacLeod-McCarthy experiment Having demonstrated that DNA is the carrier molecule of heredity, the focus immediately shifted to understanding DNA.
Watson received his doctorate in zoology from Indiana University in 1950, after which he spent a year in Copenhagen studying viruses. He met a biophysicist Maurice Wilkins at a conference in 1951. During Wilkins' talk on the molecular structure of DNA, Watson saw preliminary X-ray photographs of DNA. This prompted him to follow Wilkins to the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University to continue his work on uncovering the structure of DNA. Here Watson met a physicist turned biologist. Francis Creek and established a direct connection with him due to their common research interests.
Soon Watson and Crick published their seminal findings on DNA structure in the journal Nature in 1953. The same issue of the journal published two more articles on the structure of DNA, one co-authored with Wilkins and another co-authored with chemist and x-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin..
Franklin took X-ray photographs of DNA crystals, which contained data necessary to unravel the structure of DNA. Her work, together with that of members of the Cavendish Laboratory, led to the discovery in 1962. Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine awarded to Watson, Crick and Wilkins.
Award and controversy
Although they knew that Franklin's important X-rays had been circulated in an internal summary report of the Cavendish Laboratory, neither Watson nor Crick acknowledged her contribution in their now famous 1953 Nature paper. In 1968 Watson published a book recounting the events surrounding the discovery of the structure of DNA as he experienced them, while downplaying Franklin's contributions and referring to her in sexist language. In the book's epilogue, he acknowledges Franklin's contributions but does not fully appreciate her role in the discovery.
Some historians argue that part of Franklin's justification for formal recognition was that her work had not been published at the time and was “common knowledge” at the Cavendish Laboratory, since researchers working on the DNA problem regularly shared data with each other. However, the use of Franklin's data and its inclusion in an official publication without attribution or permission is now largely regarded as famous example of bad behavior both in science and in the treatment of female colleagues by male colleagues in the professional environment.
In the decades since Watson, Crick and Wilkins won the Nobel Prize, some have turned Rosalind Franklin into a feminist icon. It is unknown whether she would have approved of this or not, since it is unclear how she would have felt if she had been excluded from the Nobel Prize and written down disparagingly in Watson's account of the events. It became clear that her contribution was decisive and significant, and she is now widely considered equal participant before the discovery of the structure of DNA.
The future of scientific collaboration
How have attitudes and behavior toward junior colleagues and collaborators changed in the years since Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize?
In many cases, universities, research institutions, funding agencies and peer-reviewed journals implemented official policy transparent identify and evaluate the work and contributions of all researchers involved in the project. Although these policies do not always work, the scientific environment has changed for the better and become more inclusive. This evolution may be due to the recognition that one person can rarely solve complex scientific problems on his own. And when problems arise, they become more numerous. formal mechanisms for people to seek mitigation.
Principles for triage of disputes can be found in guidelines for authors of journals, professional associations and institutions. There is also a magazine called Research Accountability it is “dedicated to the study and critique of research integrity practices and systems.” Guidance for scientists, institutions, and grant-funding agencies on how to structure authorship and author responsibilities represents significant progress in ensuring fairness and ethical procedures and standards.
I have had both positive and negative experiences in my career. These range from being included in articles when I was a student, to being cut from grants, or having my articles abandoned while I was removed as an author without my knowledge. It's important to note that most of my negative experiences occurred early in my career, likely because senior employees felt they could get away with it.
It is also likely that these negative experiences occur less frequently now that I am upfront and transparent about my expectations for co-authorship at the outset of the collaboration. I am ready and can afford to refuse cooperation.
I suspect this reflects other people's experiences and is likely to be amplified in people from groups that underrepresented in science. Unfortunately, bad behavior, including sexual harassmentis still happening in this area. Suffice it to say that science as a community still has a long way to go, as does society as a whole.
Having discovered the structure of DNA, James Watson continued his study of viruses at Harvard University and became the head of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratoryrevitalizing and significantly expanding its physical space, staff and global reputation. When Human Genome Project was in its infancy, Watson was the obvious choice to lead and take it forward, but later stepped aside after a long battle over whether the human genome and genes themselves could be patented – Watson was categorically against gene patents.
Despite all the great good Watson did during his life, his legacy is tarnished by a long history racist and sexist public comments as well as his ongoing humiliation of Rosalind Franklin both personally and professionally. And it is unfortunate that he and Crick chose not to recognize all those who, at crucial moments, contributed to their great discovery.
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