James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of DNA, has died at age 97

Nell Greenfieldboyce

November 07, 2025 / 1:04 pm

For James Watson, DNA was everything — not just his life's work, but the secret of life itself.

Over his long and storied career, Watson arguably did more than any other scientist to transform a once-obscure biological molecule, DNA, into the icon of science and society that it is today.

But when Watson died this week at the age of 97, his renown as the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA was tarnished by the fact that he had become a persona non grata in the two research fields that he pioneered: molecular biology and genomics.

Watson's penchant for making prejudiced and scientifically unfounded remarks about Black people, women, and others eventually force

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