James Watson

For other people named James Watson, see James Watson (disambiguation).

James Watson
Watson in 2012
Born
James Dewey Watson

(1928-04-06) April 6, 1928 (age 96)[9]
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater
Known for
Spouse
Elizabeth Lewis
​
(m. 1968)​
Children2
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsGenetics
Institutions
ThesisThe Biological Properties of X-Ray Inactivated Bacteriophage (1951)
Doctoral advisorSalvador Luria
Doctoral students
Other notable students
Signature

James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper in Nature proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule.[10] Watson, Crick and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material".

Watson earned degrees at the University of Chicago (BS, 1947) and Indiana University (PhD, 1950). Following a post-doctoral year at the University of Copenhagen with Herman Kalckar and Ole Maaløe, Watson worked at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in England, where he first met his future collaborator Francis Crick. From 1956 to 1976, Watson was on the faculty of the Harvard University Biology Department, promoting research in molecular biology.

From 1968, Watson served as director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), greatly expanding its level of funding and research. At CSHL, he shifted his research emphasis to the study of cancer, along with making it a world-leading research center in molecular biology. In 1994, he started as president and served for 10 years. He was then appointed chancellor, serving until he resigned in 2007 after making comments claiming that there is a genetic link between intelligence and race. In 2019, following the broadcast of a documentary in which Watson reiterated these views on race and genetics, CSHL revoked his honorary titles and severed all ties with him.

Watson has written many science books, including the textbook Molecular Biology of the Gene (1965) and his bestselling book The Double Helix (1968). Between 1988 and 1992, Watson was associated with the National Institutes of Health, helping to establish the Human Genome Project, which completed the task of mapping the human genome in 2003.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference formemrs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Copley Medal". Royal Society website. The Royal Society. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  3. ^ Capecchi, Mario (1967). On the Mechanism of Suppression and Polypeptide Chain Initiation (PhD thesis). Harvard University. ProQuest 302261581.
  4. ^ Steitz, J (2011). "Joan Steitz: RNA is a many-splendored thing. Interview by Caitlin Sedwick". The Journal of Cell Biology. 192 (5): 708–709. doi:10.1083/jcb.1925pi. PMC 3051824. PMID 21383073.
  5. ^ Hopkin, Karen (June 2005). "Bring Me Your Genomes: The Ewan Birney Story". The Scientist. 19 (11): 60.
  6. ^ Anon (1993). "Richard J. Roberts – Biographical". nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  7. ^ Ferry, Georgina (2014). EMBO in perspective: a half-century in the life sciences (PDF). Heidelberg: European Molecular Biology Organization. p. 145. ISBN 978-3-00-046271-9. OCLC 892947326. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 24, 2016.
  8. ^ Ferry, Georgina (2014). "History: Fifty years of EMBO". Nature. 511 (7508). London: 150–151. doi:10.1038/511150a. PMID 25013879.
  9. ^ "Watson, Prof. James Dewey". Who's Who. Vol. 2015 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. ^ Watson, James; Crick, Francis (April 25, 1953). "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid". Nature (171): 737–738. doi:10.1038/171737a0.