James Watson, co-discoverer of double-helix shape of DNA, dies aged 97

James Watson. Picture: Ivan Sekretarev/AP

James D Watson, whose co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped light the long fuse on a revolution in medicine, crimefighting, genealogy and ethics, has died aged 97, according to his former research lab.

The breakthrough — made when the brash, Chicago-born Watson was just 24 — turned him into a hallowed figure in the world of science for decades.

But near the end of his life, he faced condemnation and professional censure for offensive remarks, including saying black people are less intelligent than white people.

Francis Crick and I made the discovery of the century, that was pretty clear

Watson shared a 1962 Nobel Prize with British scientist Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for discovering that deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a double helix, consisting of two strands that coil around each other to create what resembles a long, gently twisting ladder.

That realisation was a breakthrough.

It instantly suggested how hereditary information is stored and how cells duplicate their DNA when they divide.

The duplication begins with the two strands of DNA pulling apart like a zipper.

Even among non-scientists, the double helix would become an instantly recognised symbol of science, showing up in such places as the work of Salvador Dali and a British postage stamp.

The discovery helped open the door to more recent developments such as tinkering with the genetic make-up of living things, treating disease by inserting genes into patients, identifying human remains and criminal suspects from DNA samples and tracing family trees.

But it has also raised a host of ethical questions, such as whether we should be altering the body’s blueprint for cosmetic reasons or in a way that is transmitted to a person’s offspring.

“Francis Crick and I made the discovery of the century, that was pretty clear,” Watson once said.

I only wish that Jim’s views on society and humanity could have matched his brilliant scientific insights

He later wrote: “There was no way we could have foreseen the explosive impact of the double helix on science and society.”

Watson never made another lab finding that big.

But in the decades that followed, he wrote influential textbooks and a best-selling memoir and helped guide the project to map the human genome.

He picked out bright young scientists and helped them.

And he used his prestige and contacts to influence science policy.

He gained unwelcome attention in 2007, when the Sunday Times Magazine quoted him as saying he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – where all the testing says not really”.

He said that while he hopes everyone is equal, “people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true”.

He apologised, but after an international furore he was suspended from his job as chancellor of the prestigious Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory in New York.

He retired a week later.

To make a huge success, a scientist has to be prepared to get into deep trouble

He had served in various leadership jobs there for nearly 40 years.

In a television documentary that aired in early 2019, Watson was asked if his views had changed.

“No, not at all,” he said.

In response, the Cold Spring Harbour Lab revoked several honorary titles it had given Watson, saying his statements were “reprehensible” and “unsupported by science”.

Watson’s combination of scientific achievement and controversial remarks created a complicated legacy.

He has shown “a regrettable tendency toward inflammatory and offensive remarks, especially late in his career”, Dr Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said in 2019.

“His outbursts, particularly when they reflected on race, were both profoundly misguided and deeply hurtful. I only wish that Jim’s views on society and humanity could have matched his brilliant scientific insights.”

Long before that, Watson scorned political correctness.

“A goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid,” he wrote in The Double Helix, his bestselling 1968 book about the DNA discovery.

For success in science, he wrote: “You have to avoid dumb people. … Never do anything that bores you. … If you can’t stand to be with your real peers (including scientific competitors) get out of science. … To make a huge success, a scientist has to be prepared to get into deep trouble.”