New Delhi. Nobel Peace Prize winner James Watson, who discovered the structure of DNA, died at the age of 97. Let us tell you, DNA was discovered by Frederick Meisher in 1869. After this, in 1953, James Watson, along with Francis Crick, discovered the double helix structure of DNA. Nobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson added a new path to medical science with his discovery. When James was writing Revolution in Medical Science, he was only 24 years old. According to media reports, James’ first reaction to the structure of DNA was, “It is very beautiful.”
He was born in Chicago and earned a lot of name in his career. However, in some cases James was criticized a lot.
James Watson was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 along with his colleagues Francis Crick and scientist Morris Wilkins. Both colleagues died in 2004.
James was greatly assisted by the X-ray research of Rosalind Franklin and her student Raymond Gosling. However, later a book by Franklin named “The Double Helix” came out, in which James was heavily criticized. Franklin was a woman scientist, who was much discussed during that period. He died in 1958.
On the other hand, James also made such statements which aroused widespread controversy. Due to these statements, he also received severe criticism. Dr. Francis Collins, then director of the National Institutes of Health, said in 2019, “I just wish James’s views on society and humanity could match his brilliant scientific insights.”
DNA structure was the biggest discovery of Watson’s life. After this discovery, Watson spent two years at the California Institute of Technology. Then in 1955 he joined Harvard as faculty. Scientist Mark Patashne told during an interview that before leaving Harvard in 1976, he had started the university’s molecular biology program. Watson became director of Cold Spring Harbor Lab in 1968, its president in 1994, and its chancellor 10 years later.
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