DNA Pioneer, James Watson, Dies At 97

American molecular biologist who co-discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, James Watson, has died.

Watson died on Thursday, November 6, 2025, in New York, at the age of 97, according to international media reports.

Born on April 6, 1928, in Chicago, United States, Watson played a central role in one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century.

In 1953, while at Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory, he and British scientist Francis Crick proposed the double-helix model of DNA, the molecule that carries genetic information in humans and all living organisms.

Their discovery laid the foundation for modern genetics, molecular biology, genetic engineering, forensic DNA analysis, gene sequencing, and human genome research.

It also transformed the understanding of hereditary disorders, cancer, ancestry, and personalised medicine.

In 1962, Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. However, Rosalind Franklin, whose X-ray diffraction images were critical to the discovery, was not included due to her death in 1958, as the Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously.

Watson later became a leading scientific administrator, serving as director and later president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, turning it into a world-renowned centre for molecular biology.

He authored several influential works, including ‘The Double Helix’ and ‘Molecular Biology of the Gene,’ a widely used reference text in biology.

However, the later years of Watson’s life were marked by controversy over remarks on race and genetics, which led to the removal of his honorary titles by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 2019.

Nevertheless, although he continued sharing scientific views, including theories on the roles of oxidants and antioxidants in diseases such as cancer and diabetes, Watsons no longer held the influence he once commanded.

With his death, the scientific world mourns one of the last pioneers of early molecular genetics, a figure whose work unlocked the genetic code and permanently reshaped modern biology.