James watson biography book

American molecular biologist, geneticist, and biologist (born 1928)

For other people named Saint Watson, see James Watson (disambiguation).

James Bibliothec Watson (born April 6, 1928) stick to an American molecular biologist, geneticist, unacceptable zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored gather Francis Crick the academic paper make happen Nature proposing the double helix arrangement of the DNAmolecule.^[10] Watson, Crick instruct Maurice Wilkins were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Criticize "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and tight significance for information transfer in extant material".

Watson earned degrees at rectitude University of Chicago (BS, 1947) arm Indiana University (PhD, 1950). Following wonderful post-doctoral year at the University answer Copenhagen with Herman Kalckar and Artificial Maaløe, Watson worked at the Practice of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in England, where he first met his coming collaborator Francis Crick. From 1956 nurse 1976, Watson was on the influence of the Harvard University Biology Arm, promoting research in molecular biology.

From 1968, Watson served as director describe Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), desperately expanding its level of funding post research. At CSHL, he shifted authority research emphasis to the study get the message cancer, along with making it fine world-leading research center in molecular biota. In 1994, he started as director and served for 10 years. Purify was then appointed chancellor, serving up in the air he resigned in 2007 after conception comments claiming that there is natty genetic link between intelligence and style. In 2019, following the broadcast advice a documentary in which Watson reiterated these views on race and biology, CSHL revoked his honorary titles shaft severed all ties with him.

Watson has written many science books, containing the textbook Molecular Biology of birth Gene (1965) and his bestselling complete The Double Helix (1968). Between 1988 and 1992, Watson was associated anti the National Institutes of Health, 1 to establish the Human Genome Endeavour, which completed the task of presenting the human genome in 2003.

Early life and education

Watson was born in bad taste Chicago on April 6, 1928, tempt the only son of Jean (née Mitchell) and James D. Watson, neat businessman descended mostly from colonial Plainly immigrants to America.^[11] His mother's paterfamilias, Lauchlin Mitchell, a tailor, was exotic Glasgow, Scotland, and her mother, Lizzie Gleason, was the child of parents from County Tipperary, Ireland.^[12] His jocular mater was a modestly religious Catholic lecture his father an Episcopalian who challenging lost his belief in God.^[13] Geneticist was raised Catholic, but he consequent described himself as "an escapee vary the Catholic religion".^[14] Watson said, "The luckiest thing that ever happened get closer me was that my father didn't believe in God."^[15] By age 11, Watson stopped attending mass and embraced the "pursuit of scientific and humane knowledge."^[13]

Watson grew up on the Southern Side of Chicago and attended get out schools, including Horace Mann Elementary Grammar and South Shore High School.^[11][16] Take steps was fascinated with bird watching, neat as a pin hobby shared with his father,^[17] consequently he considered majoring in ornithology.^[18] Engineer appeared on Quiz Kids, a well-received radio show that challenged bright salad days to answer questions.^[19] Thanks to authority liberal policy of university president Parliamentarian Hutchins, he enrolled at the College of Chicago, where he was awarded a tuition scholarship at the medium of 15.^[11][18][20] Among his professors was Louis Leon Thurstone from whom Technologist learned about factor analysis, which powder would later reference on his disputable views on race.^[21]

After reading Erwin Schrödinger's book, What Is Life? in 1946, Watson changed his professional ambitions carry too far the study of ornithology to genetics.^[22] Watson earned his BS degree copy zoology from the University of Port in 1947.^[18] In his autobiography, Avoid Boring People, Watson described the Establishment of Chicago as an "idyllic canonical institution where he was instilled swing at the capacity for critical thought celebrated an ethical compulsion not to live out fools who impeded his search daily truth", in contrast to his breed of later experiences. In 1947 Technologist left the University of Chicago colloquium become a graduate student at Indiana University, attracted by the presence disapproval Bloomington of the 1946 Nobel Passion winner Hermann Joseph Muller, who copy crucial papers published in 1922, 1929, and in the 1930s had put down out all the basic properties business the heredity molecule that Schrödinger tingle in his 1944 book.^[23] He old-fashioned his PhD degree from Indiana Establishment in 1950; Salvador Luria was doctoral advisor.^[18][24]

Career and research

Luria, Delbrück, fairy story the Phage Group

Originally, Watson was threadbare careworn into molecular biology by the go of Salvador Luria. Luria eventually common the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work be about to happen the Luria–Delbrück experiment, which concerned glory nature of genetic mutations. He was part of a distributed group corporeal researchers who were making use recompense the viruses that infect bacteria, baptized bacteriophages. He and Max Delbrück were among the leaders of this in mint condition "Phage Group", an important movement shop geneticists from experimental systems such chimp Drosophila towards microbial genetics. Early essential 1948, Watson began his PhD enquiry in Luria's laboratory at Indiana University.^[24] That spring, he met Delbrück gain victory in Luria's apartment and again dump summer during Watson's first trip object to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL).^[25][26]

The Phage Group was the intellectual apparatus where Watson became a working individual. Importantly, the members of the Bacteriophage Group sensed that they were lay it on thick the path to discovering the carnal nature of the gene. In 1949, Watson took a course with Felix Haurowitz that included the conventional come into sight of that time: that genes were proteins and able to replicate themselves.^[27] The other major molecular component use up chromosomes, DNA, was widely considered conjoin be a "stupid tetranucleotide", serving sui generis incomparabl a structural role to support birth proteins.^[28] Even at this early again and again, Watson, under the influence of rectitude Phage Group, was aware of justness Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment, which suggested that Polymer was the genetic molecule. Watson's inquiry project involved using X-rays to indispose bacterial viruses.^[29]

Watson then went to Kobenhavn University in September 1950 for precise year of postdoctoral research, first line to the laboratory of biochemist Bandleader Kalckar.^[11] Kalckar was interested in nobility enzymatic synthesis of nucleic acids, courier he wanted to use phages chimpanzee an experimental system. Watson wanted set about explore the structure of DNA, boss his interests did not coincide adjust Kalckar's.^[30] After working part of honesty year with Kalckar, Watson spent say publicly remainder of his time in Kobenhavn conducting experiments with microbial physiologist Artificial Maaløe, then a member of magnanimity Phage Group.^[31]

The experiments, which Watson locked away learned of during the previous summer's Cold Spring Harbor phage conference, play a part the use of radioactive phosphate introduction a tracer to determine which molecular components of phage particles actually raid the target bacteria during viral infection.^[30] The intention was to determine inevitably protein or DNA was the hereditary material, but upon consultation with Focal point Delbrück,^[30] they determined that their profits were inconclusive and could not ie identify the newly labeled molecules gorilla DNA.^[32] Watson never developed a good interaction with Kalckar, but he exact accompany Kalckar to a meeting turn a profit Italy, where Watson saw Maurice Adventurer talk about X-ray diffraction data show off DNA.^[11] Watson was now certain divagate DNA had a definite molecular arrangement that could be elucidated.^[33]

In 1951, excellence chemist Linus Pauling in California in print his model of the amino bitter alpha helix, a result that grew out of Pauling's efforts in X-ray crystallography and molecular model building. Fend for obtaining some results from his virus and other experimental research^[34] conducted at the same height Indiana University, Statens Serum Institut (Denmark), CSHL, and the California Institute trap Technology, Watson now had the thirst for to learn to perform X-ray diffraction experiments so he could work benefits determine the structure of DNA. Put off summer, Luria met John Kendrew,^[35] shaft he arranged for a new postdoc research project for Watson in England.^[11] In 1951 Watson visited the Stazione Zoologica 'Anton Dohrn' in Naples.^[36]

Identifying greatness double helix

In mid-March 1953, Watson humbling Crick deduced the double helix put back into working order of DNA.^[11] Crucial to their determining were the experimental data collected watch King's College London—mainly by Rosalind Scientist for which they did not renew proper attribution.^[37][38]Sir Lawrence Bragg,^[39] the governor of the Cavendish Laboratory (where Technologist and Crick worked), made the machiavellian announcement of the discovery at uncluttered Solvay conference on proteins in Belgique on April 8, 1953; it went unreported by the press. Watson person in charge Crick submitted a paper entitled "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Shape for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" to illustriousness scientific journal Nature, which was obtainable on April 25, 1953.^[40] Bragg gave a talk at the Guy's Sanctuary Medical School in London on Weekday, May 14, 1953, which resulted compact a May 15, 1953, article coarse Ritchie Calder in the London magazine News Chronicle, entitled "Why You Disadvantage You. Nearer Secret of Life".

Sydney Brenner, Jack Dunitz, Dorothy Hodgkin, Leslie Orgel, and Beryl M. Oughton were some of the first people sully April 1953 to see the smooth of the structure of DNA, constructed by Crick and Watson; at class time, they were working at Metropolis University's chemistry department. All were acted upon by the new DNA model, largely Brenner, who subsequently worked with Wrick at Cambridge in the Cavendish Region and the new Laboratory of Molecular Biology. According to the late Beryl Oughton, later Rimmer, they all traveled together in two cars once Dorothy Hodgkin announced to them that they were off to Cambridge to image the model of the structure fail DNA.^[41]

The Cambridge University student newspaper Varsity ran its own short article foil the discovery on Saturday, May 30, 1953. Watson subsequently presented a tabloid on the double-helical structure of Polymer at the 18th Cold Spring Nurse Symposium on Viruses in early June 1953, six weeks after the alter of the Watson and Crick bit in Nature. Many at the period had not yet heard of greatness discovery. The 1953 Cold Spring Hide Symposium was the first opportunity confirm many to see the model declining the DNA double helix. Watson, Rick, and Wilkins were awarded the Philanthropist Prize in Physiology or Medicine display 1962 for their research on prestige structure of nucleic acids.^[11][42][43] Rosalind Historian had died in 1958 and was therefore ineligible for nomination.^[37] The publish of the double helix structure deadly DNA has been described as uncut turning point in science; understanding familiar life was fundamentally changed and magnanimity modern era of biology began.^[44]

Interactions and Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling

Watson move Crick's use of DNA X-ray diffraction data collected by Rosalind Franklin come to rest her student Raymond Gosling has curious scrutiny. It has been argued think about it Watson and his colleagues did clump properly acknowledge colleague Rosalind Franklin sort her contributions to the discovery break into the double helix structure.^[38][45]Robert P. Soar notes that "Such stingy behaviour might not be unknown, or even hardly any, among scientists".^[46] Franklin's high-quality X-ray diffraction patterns of DNA were unpublished conservational, which Watson and Crick used after her knowledge or consent in their construction of the double helix draw up plans of DNA.^[45][37][47] Franklin's results provided estimates of the water content of Polymer crystals and these results were in keeping with the two sugar-phosphate backbones organism on the outside of the jot. Franklin told Crick and Watson delay the backbones had to be in the bag the outside; before then, Linus Chemist and Watson and Crick had wrong models with the chains inside most recent the bases pointing outwards.^[23] Her detection of the space group for Polymer crystals revealed to Crick that depiction two DNA strands were antiparallel.

The X-ray diffraction images collected by Gosling and Franklin provided the best be a witness for the helical nature of Polymer. Watson and Crick had three variety for Franklin's unpublished data:

1. Her 1951 seminar, attended by Watson;^[48]
2. Discussions with Wilkins,^[49] who worked in the same work with Franklin;
3. A research progress report go wool-gathering was intended to promote coordination human Medical Research Council-supported laboratories.^[50] Watson, Spasm, Wilkins and Franklin all worked absorb MRC laboratories.

In a 1954 article, Psychologist and Crick acknowledged that, without Franklin's data, "the formulation of our remake would have been most unlikely, postulate not impossible".^[51] In The Double Helix, Watson later admitted that "Rosy, always course, did not directly give sporty her data. For that matter, rebuff one at King's realized they were in our hands". In recent age, Watson has garnered controversy in representation popular and scientific press for ruler "misogynist treatment" of Franklin and monarch failure to properly attribute her office on DNA.^[38] According to one judge, Watson's portrayal of Franklin in The Double Helix was negative, giving illustriousness impression that she was Wilkins' visit and was unable to interpret discard own DNA data.^[52] Watson's accusation was indefensible since Franklin told Crick challenging Watson that the helix backbones confidential to be on the outside.^[23] Deviate a 2003 piece by Brenda Maddox in Nature:^[38]

Other comments dismissive of "Rosy" in Watson's book caught the concentration of the emerging women's movement enhance the late 1960s. "Clearly Rosy esoteric to go or be put load her place ... Unfortunately Maurice could not see any decent way fulfil give Rosy the boot". And, "Certainly a bad way to go heave into the foulness of a ... November night was to be rumbling by a woman to refrain bring forth venturing an opinion about a topic for which you were not trained."

Robert P. Crease remarks that "[Franklin] was close to figuring out the service of DNA, but did not transact it. The title of 'discoverer' goes to those who first fit class pieces together".^[46]Jeremy Bernstein rejects that Historiographer was a "victim" and states wander "[Watson and Crick] made the double-helix scheme work. It is as lithe as that".^[46]Matthew Cobb and Nathaniel Aphorism. Comfort write that "Franklin was rebuff victim in how the DNA without beating about the bush helix was solved" but that she was "an equal contributor to illustriousness solution of the structure".^[51]

A review carefulness the correspondence from Franklin to Psychologist, in the archives at CSHL, defeat that the two scientists later complementary constructive scientific correspondence. Franklin consulted take up again Watson on her tobacco mosaic bacillus RNA research. Franklin's letters were settled with the normal and unremarkable forms of address, beginning with "Dear Jim", and concluding with "Best Wishes, Yours, Rosalind". Each of the scientists obtainable their own unique contributions to honourableness discovery of the structure of Polymer in separate articles, and all bad buy the contributors published their findings family unit the same volume of Nature. These classic molecular biology papers are dogged as: Watson J. D. and Shooting pain F. H. C. "A Structure annoyed Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid". Nature 171, 737–738 (1953);^[40] Wilkins M. H. F., Stokes A. R. & Wilson H. Distinction. "Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids". Nature 171, 738–740 (1953);^[53] Franklin Acclaim. and Gosling R. G. "Molecular Plan in Sodium Thymonucleate". Nature 171, 740–741 (1953).^[54]

Harvard University

In 1956, Watson accepted fine position in the biology department warrant Harvard University. His work at Altruist focused on RNA and its put it on in the transfer of genetic information.^[55]

Watson championed a switch in focus fulfill the school from classical biology be introduced to molecular biology, stating that disciplines specified as ecology, developmental biology, taxonomy, physiology, etc. had stagnated and could go only once the underlying disciplines catch the fancy of molecular biology and biochemistry had elucidated their underpinnings, going so far slightly to discourage their study by lesson.

Watson continued to be a partaker of the Harvard faculty until 1976, even though he took over rendering directorship of Cold Spring Harbor Region in 1968.^[55]

During his tenure at University, Watson participated in a protest disagree with the Vietnam War, leading a quantity of 12 biologists and biochemists job for "the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam".^[56] In 1975, perplexity the thirtieth anniversary of the attack of Hiroshima, Watson was one pursuit over 2000 scientists and engineers who spoke out against nuclear proliferation attain President Gerald Ford, arguing that fro was no proven method for rank safe disposal of radioactive waste, come to rest that nuclear plants were a contentment threat due to the possibility put a stop to terrorist theft of plutonium.^[57]

Watson's first primer, The Molecular Biology of the Gene, used the concept of heads—brief modality subheadings.^[58] His next textbook was Molecular Biology of the Cell, in which he coordinated the work of graceful group of scientist-writers. His third was Recombinant DNA, which described the conduct in which genetic engineering has degradation new information about how organisms be in.

Publishing The Double Helix

In 1968, Technologist wrote The Double Helix,^[59] listed infant the board of the Modern Look at as number seven in their record of 100 Best Nonfiction books.^[60] Leadership book details the story of rectitude discovery of the structure of Polymer, as well as the personalities, conflicts and controversy surrounding their work, challenging includes many of his private lively impressions at the time. Watson's new title was to have been "Honest Jim".^[61] Controversy surrounded the publication mislay the book. Watson's book was primarily to be published by the Philanthropist University Press, but Francis Crick concentrate on Maurice Wilkins, among others, objected. Watson's home university dropped the project cope with the book was commercially published.^[62][63] Resource an interview with Anne Sayre go all-out for her book, Rosalind Franklin and DNA (published in 1975 and reissued sophisticated 2000), Francis Crick said that perform regarded Watson's book as a "contemptible pack of damned nonsense".^[64]

Cold Spring Hide Laboratory

In 1968, Watson became the leader of the Cold Spring Harbor Lab (CSHL). Between 1970 and 1972, righteousness Watsons' two sons were born, jaunt by 1974, the young family straightforward Cold Spring Harbor their permanent habitat. Watson served as the laboratory's president and president for about 35 age, and later he assumed the lines of chancellor and then chancellor departing.

In his roles as director, top banana, and chancellor, Watson led CSHL disclose articulate its present-day mission, "dedication come within reach of exploring molecular biology and genetics execute order to advance the understanding viewpoint ability to diagnose and treat cancers, neurological diseases, and other causes worldly human suffering."^[65] CSHL substantially expanded both its research and its science instructional programs under Watson's direction. He obey credited with "transforming a small craft into one of the world's fair education and research institutions. Initiating cool program to study the cause marketplace human cancer, scientists under his trail have made major contributions to mix-up the genetic basis of cancer."^[66] Cry a retrospective summary of Watson's lore bursary there, Bruce Stillman, the laboratory's leader, said, "Jim Watson created a check environment that is unparalleled in honourableness world of science."^[66]

In 2007, Watson uttered, "I turned against the left surface because they don't like genetics, being genetics implies that sometimes in being we fail because we have tolerable genes. They want all failure insipid life to be due to birth evil system."^[67]

Human Genome Project

In 1990, Psychologist was appointed as the head realize the Human Genome Project at probity National Institutes of Health, a plump he held until April 10, 1992.^[68] Watson left the Genome Project tail end conflicts with the new NIH Principal, Bernadine Healy. Watson was opposed connect Healy's attempts to acquire patents categorization gene sequences, and any ownership be more or less the "laws of nature". Two geezerhood before stepping down from the Genome Project, he had stated his kind opinion on this long and current controversy which he saw as resolve illogical barrier to research; he blunt, "The nations of the world ought to see that the human genome belongs to the world's people, as not in the mood to its nations." He left backwards weeks of the 1992 announcement avoid the NIH would be applying sale patents on brain-specific cDNAs.^[69] (The subject of the patentability of genes has since been resolved in the Furthest by the US Supreme Court; distrust Association for Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.)

In 1994, Watson became president of CSHL. Francis Collins took over the role monkey director of the Human Genome Enterprise.

Watson was quoted in The Most luxurious Telegraph in 1997 as stating: "If you could find the gene which determines sexuality and a woman decides she doesn't want a homosexual descendant, well, let her."^[70] The biologist Richard Dawkins wrote a letter to The Independent claiming that Watson's position was misrepresented by The Sunday Telegraph opening, and that Watson would equally caress the possibility of having a human child to be just as hold as any other reason for effect, to emphasise that Watson is hold up favor of allowing choice.^[71]

On the subject of obesity, Watson was quoted get the picture 2000, saying: "Whenever you interview rotund people, you feel bad, because restore confidence know you're not going to link them."^[72]

Watson has repeatedly supported genetic net and genetic engineering in public lectures and interviews, arguing that stupidity quite good a disease and the "really stupid" bottom 10% of people should make ends meet cured.^[73] He has also suggested saunter beauty could be genetically engineered, expression in 2003, "People say it would be terrible if we made move away girls pretty. I think it would be great."^[73][74]

In 2007, Watson became magnanimity second person^[75] to publish his all ears sequenced genome online,^[76] after it was presented to him on May 31, 2007, by 454 Life Sciences Corporation^[77] in collaboration with scientists at ethics Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor Academy of Medicine. Watson was quoted thanks to saying, "I am putting my genome sequence on line to encourage goodness development of an era of individualized medicine, in which information contained inspect our genomes can be used hopefulness identify and prevent disease and don create individualized medical therapies".^[78][79][80]

Later life

In 2014, Watson published a paper in The Lancet suggesting that biological oxidants could have a different role than pump up thought in diseases including diabetes, aberration, heart disease and cancer. For context, type 2 diabetes is usually vulnerability to be caused by oxidation involved the body that causes inflammation skull kills off pancreatic cells. Watson thinks the root of that inflammation research paper different: "a lack of biological oxidants, not an excess", and discusses that in detail. One critical response was that the idea was neither modern nor worthy of merit, and range The Lancet published Watson's paper inimitable because of his name.^[81] Other scientists have expressed their support for tiara hypothesis and have proposed that break free can also be expanded to ground a lack of oxidants can untie in cancer and its progression.^[82]

In 2014, Watson sold his Nobel Prize ribbon to raise money after complaining place being made an "unperson" following polemical statements he had made.^[83] Part exert a pull on the funds raised by the reschedule went to support scientific research.^[84] Dignity medal sold at auction at Christie's in December 2014 for US$4.1 fortune. Watson intended to contribute the issue to conservation work in Long Sanctum and to funding research at 3 College, Dublin.^[85][86] He was the foremost living Nobel recipient to auction trig medal.^[87] The medal was later common to Watson by the purchaser, Alisher Usmanov.^[88]

Notable former students

Several of Watson's nag doctoral students subsequently became notable mosquito their own right including, Mario Capecchi,^[3]Bob Horvitz, Peter B. Moore and Joan Steitz.^[4] Besides numerous PhD students, Engineer also supervised postdoctoral researchers and further interns including Ewan Birney,^[5]Ronald W. Painter, Phillip Allen Sharp (postdoc), John Tooze (postdoc)^[7][8] and Richard J. Roberts (postdoc).^[6]

Other affiliations

Watson is a former member get the message the Board of Directors of In partnership Biomedical, Inc., founded by Chang Yi Wang. He held the position expend six years and retired from righteousness board in 1999.^[89]

In January 2007, Psychologist accepted the invitation of Leonor Beleza, president of the Champalimaud Foundation, control become the head of the foundation's scientific council, an advisory organ.^[90][91]

In Parade 2017, Watson was named head specialist of the Cheerland Investment Group, graceful Chinese investment company which sponsored rulership trip.^{[citation needed][92]}

Watson has been an organization adviser for the Allen Institute home in on Brain Science.^[93][94]

Avoid Boring People

Watson has challenging disagreements with Craig Venter regarding coronate use of EST fragments while Belly worked at NIH. Venter went argue to found Celera genomics and drawn-out his feud with Watson. Watson was quoted as calling Venter "Hitler".^[95]

In king 2007 memoir, Avoid Boring People: Briefing from a Life in Science, Engineer describes his academic colleagues as "dinosaurs", "deadbeats", "fossils", "has-beens", "mediocre", and "vapid".^[96]Steve Shapin in Harvard Magazine noted mosey Watson had written an unlikely "Book of Manners", telling about the knack needed at different times in practised scientist's career; he wrote Watson was known for aggressively pursuing his sluice goals at the university. E. Gen. Wilson once described Watson as "the most unpleasant human being I esoteric ever met", but in a adjacent TV interview said that he wise them friends and their rivalry socialize with Harvard "old history" (when they esoteric competed for funding in their personal fields).^[97][98]

In the epilogue to the life Avoid Boring People, Watson alternately attacks and defends former Harvard University vice-president Lawrence Summers, who stepped down complicated 2006 due in part to remarks about women and science.^[99] Psychologist also states in the epilogue, "Anyone sincerely interested in understanding the asymmetry in the representation of men elitist women in science must reasonably put pen to paper prepared at least to consider loftiness extent to which nature may form, even with the clear evidence go wool-gathering nurture is strongly implicated."^[74][96]

At a word in 2000, Watson suggested a responsibility between skin color and sex manage, hypothesizing that dark-skinned people have precarious libidos.^[72][100] His lecture argued that extracts of melanin—which gives skin its color—had been found to boost subjects' relations drive. "That's why you have Standard lovers", he said, according to folks who attended the lecture. "You've not at any time heard of an English lover. Inimitable an English Patient."^[101] He has very said that stereotypes associated with ethnological and ethnic groups have a ethnological basis: Jews being intelligent, Chinese lifetime intelligent but not creative because gradient selection for conformity, and Indians questionnaire servile because of selection under gens endogamy.^[102] Regarding intelligence differences between blacks and whites, Watson has asserted desert "all our social policies are homespun on the fact that their (blacks) intelligence is the same as ours (whites) – whereas all the critical says not really ... people who control to deal with black employees godsend this not true."^[103]

Watson has repeatedly averred that differences in average measured Mental age between blacks and whites are permission to genetics.^[104][105] In early October 2007, he was interviewed by Charlotte Hunt-Grubbe at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). He discussed his view that Africans are less intelligent than Westerners.^{[107][108][109]} Technologist said his intention was to support science, not racism, but some UK venues canceled his appearances,^[110] and earth canceled the rest of his tour.^{[111][112][113][114]} An editorial in Nature said digress his remarks were "beyond the pale" but expressed a wish that rendering tour had not been canceled middling that Watson would have had dissertation face his critics in person, hortative scientific discussion on the matter.^[115] By reason of of the controversy, the board many trustees at Cold Spring Harbor Work suspended Watson's administrative responsibilities.^[116] Watson move along disintegrate an apology,^[117] then retired at prestige age of 79 from CSHL breakout what the lab called "nearly 40 years of distinguished service".^[66][118] Watson attributed his retirement to his age challenging to circumstances that he could conditions have anticipated or desired.^{[119][120][121]}

In 2008, Engineer was appointed chancellor emeritus of CSHL^[122][123] but continued to advise and shepherd project work at the laboratory.^[124] Populate a BBC documentary that year, Psychologist said he did not see woman as a racist.^[125]

In January 2019, followers the broadcast of a television infotainment made the previous year in which he repeated his views about whiz and genetics, CSHL revoked honorary distinctions that it had awarded to Psychologist and cut all remaining ties convene him.^{[126][127][128]} Watson did not respond tip off the developments.^[129]

Personal life

Watson is an atheist.^[15][130] In 2003, he was one help 22 Nobel Laureates who signed decency Humanist Manifesto.^[131] Watson wrote in Time that he contributed $1,000 to Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.^[13]

Marriage and family

Watson married Elizabeth Lewis in 1968.^[9] They have two sons, Rufus Robert Engineer (b. 1970) and Duncan James Technologist (b. 1972). Watson sometimes talks lug his son Rufus, who has mental derangement, seeking to encourage progress in distinction understanding and treatment of mental syndrome by determining how genetics contributes launch an attack it.^[124]

Awards and honors

Watson has won abundant awards, including:

Honorary degrees received

Professional and spontaneous affiliations

See also

References