James Watson, co-creator of the DNA model and Nobel laureate, dies

James Watson, the American biologist best known as the co-creator of the model of the structure of DNA, has died at the age of 97. His 1953 discovery, on which he collaborated with Francis Crick, launched an era of genetics and earned them the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962.

But Watson's career was dogged by controversy - from his controversial use of Rosalind Franklin's data to his autobiographical book "The Double Helix", which outraged his colleagues. Crick complained that it had "grossly invaded his privacy" and another colleague, Maurice Wilkins, objected to what he called the "distorted and unfavourable image of scientists" as ambitious schemers willing to deceive colleagues and competitors to achieve discovery.

He later became the subject of ostracism for his comments on genetics and race. In 2007, he claimed that the intelligence of Africans is not the same as that of other populations, leading to his resignation as chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Although he later apologized, he reiterated his views in 2019. Watson died this week at a hospice on Long Island.

(reuters, max)