James D. Watson, the author and one of the scientists credited with discovering the structure of DNA and whose legacy was marred by his racist views on intelligence, has died at 97, the New York Times reports.
Watson was born and raised in Chicago and educated at the University of Chicago and Indiana University. He worked at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, where, in 1953, he and fellow scientist Francis Crick coauthored a paper titled “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” describing the double helix structure of the DNA polymer.
Watson and Crick’s work drew from an X-ray image taken by Raymond Gosling under the direction of chemist Rosalind Franklin, whose contributions to the discovery went unrecognized for years. Watson, Crick, and biophysicist Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 for their work on the DNA structure.
Watson’s 1967 book The Double Helix has drawn controversy for his minimizing of Franklin’s work on DNA but was named one of the best nonfiction books of the 20th century by the Modern Library. Watson’s other books include Genes, Girls, and Gamow; DNA, cowritten with Andrew Berry; and Avoid Boring People.
Watson drew considerable criticism for his views on race and intelligence. In 2007, he said that 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—whereas all the testing says not really.” He later apologized for the comments.
Watson was remembered on social media. On the platform X, geneticist David A. Sinclair wrote, “Jim was a kind & generous mentor to me, who never hesitated to meet, give feedback, or share stories from the early days of molecular biology.”
RIP James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNAs double helix🥇Jim was a kind & generous mentor to me, who never hesitated to meet, give feedback, or share stories from the early days of molecular biology. His signed double helix hangs in my office as a reminder how one discovery can… pic.twitter.com/mckNEbt1h5
— David Sinclair (@davidasinclair) November 8, 2025
And on Bluesky, scientist Adam Rutherford posted, “James Watson made some tremendous contributions to science, and expressed many grotesque views, which were racist, sexist and ignorant. These are all well documented.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
