Scientist makes apology for remarks on race

NOBEL Prize-winning DNA authority Dr James Watson cut short a book tour in Britain yesterday and returned to the United States over racially insensitive comments attributed to him.

The winner of the 1962 Nobel prize for his description of the double helix structure of DNA apologised for his remarks at an appearance to promote his new book, saying he did not mean to characterise Africans as inferior.

But he cancelled the rest of his tour to return to the US to deal with the growing controversy and his suspension as chancellor of the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory in New York, his publicist said.