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

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

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.