Esther Imonmion
Nobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA, died on November 8, 2025, aged 97. Watson, alongside British scientist Francis Crick, identified the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953, a discovery that revolutionised molecular biology and laid the foundation for modern genetics.
His death was confirmed by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), where Watson worked and conducted research for decades. He later resigned as its chancellor following controversial remarks on race and gender.
Watson shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Crick and Maurice Wilkins for their discovery of the DNA structure. “We have discovered the secret of life,” the pair famously said after their breakthrough.
Born in Chicago in April 1928, Watson won a scholarship to the University of Chicago at age 15. He later moved to Cambridge University in England to study DNA structures, where he met Crick and began constructing physical models of the molecule.
Their work drew heavily on X-ray diffraction images taken by Rosalind Franklin at King’s College London—images used without her knowledge. Though Franklin died in 1958, she is now widely recognised for her vital role in revealing DNA’s structure.
After his time at Cambridge, Watson joined Harvard University, where he became professor of biology. In 1968, he took over CSHL in New York, transforming it into one of the world’s leading research institutions.
However, Watson’s later years were marred by controversy. In 2007, he told The Times of London that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa,” suggesting differences in intelligence between races. The comments led to his suspension and eventual resignation from CSHL. He later apologised “unreservedly,” but in 2019, further remarks linking race and intelligence prompted the laboratory to revoke his remaining honorary titles.
“Dr Watson’s statements are reprehensible, unsupported by science,” CSHL said at the time.
Watson also drew criticism for sexist remarks, including comments about Franklin’s appearance in his 1968 memoir The Double Helix, though former colleagues said he helped advance the careers of female scientists at Harvard during the 1950s and 60s.
In 2014, Watson became the first living Nobel laureate to auction his gold medal, selling it for $4.8 million (£3.6 million). The buyer, a Russian billionaire, later returned it to him.
Watson is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and their two sons. One of them, diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager, inspired Watson’s later efforts to study genetic links to mental illness.
James Watson’s scientific legacy remains monumental—transforming biology and genetics—but is indelibly shadowed by the controversies that marked his later years.