James Watson, Nobel Prize winner and DNA pioneer, dies

James Watson, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist renowned for his role in discovering the double-helix structure of DNA, has died at the age of 97. Watson, along with Francis Crick, elucidated the iconic shape of DNA in 1953, a breakthrough that revolutionized biology and laid the foundation for advancements in genetics, medicine, and forensic science. Born in Chicago in 1928, Watson initially pursued ornithology but was inspired by Erwin Schrodinger's book "What Is Life?" to shift his focus to the molecule responsible for heredity. He joined the "phage group" at Indiana University, a pivotal cluster of scientists in the emerging field of molecular biology. His collaboration with Francis Crick at Cambridge University, characterized by intense intellectual debate, led to the construction of a model that accurately depicted DNA's double-helix structure. In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery. Rosalind Franklin, whose X-ray diffraction images were crucial to determining DNA's structure, died before the prize was awarded and was thus excluded, a fact that later fueled controversy regarding Watson's portrayal of her in his 1968 book, "The Double Helix." Later in his career, Watson became a controversial figure due to public statements express... download the app to read more