In Memoriam: Nobel Laureate James D. Watson, Ph.D. (1928-2025)
Curator: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D.
On Thursday November 6, 2025, Nobel Laureate Dr. James D. Watson passed away after a reported brief illness. Although well known for his discovery of the DNA double helix with Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkens using the crystallographic data of Rosalind Franklin, Dr. Watson had contributed other seminal findings to the fields of biology and cancer, as well as his mentoring of young scientists. Therefore it is only fitting to curate some of the commentary on his life and passing in the words of the institutions and the renowned scientists he had mentored.
The world of science bids farewell to one of its most brilliant and controversial figures, Dr. James Dewey Watson, who passed away on 6th November 2025 at the age of 97. Best known as one of the co-discoverers of the double-helix structure of DNA, Watson’s name became synonymous with a new era in genetics and molecular biology. His life, filled with intellectual daring, unyielding curiosity, and deep contributions to science and education, forever altered humanity’s understanding of the genetic code that defines life itself.
James Watson and Francis Crick with model of DNA double helix. The model was based on data from Rosalind Franklin and x ray diffraction analysis of Maurice Wilkins.
From Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where Dr. Watson spent most of his scientific career:
Jim Watson made many contributions to science, education, public service, and especially Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL).
As a scientist, his and Francis Crick’s determination of the structure of DNA, based on data from Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins and their colleagues at King’s College London, was a pivotal moment in the life sciences. Watson, along with Crick and Wilkins were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Watson also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Gerald Ford and the National Medal of Science from President Bill Clinton, among many other awards and prizes. While at Cambridge, Watson also carried out pioneering research on the structure of small viruses. At Harvard, Watson’s laboratory demonstrated the existence of mRNA, in parallel with a group at Cambridge, UK, led by Sydney Brenner. His laboratory also discovered important bacterial proteins that control gene expression and contributed to understanding how mRNA is translated into proteins.
As an author, Watson wrote two books at Harvard that were and remain best sellers. The textbook Molecular Biology of the Gene, published in 1965 (7th edition, 2020), changed the nature of science textbooks, and its style was widely emulated. The Double Helix (1968) was a sensation at the time of publication. Watson’s account of the events that resulted in the elucidation of the structure of DNA remains controversial, but still widely read.
As a public servant, Watson successfully guided the first years of the Human Genome Project, persuading scientists to take part and politicians to provide funding. He created the Ethical, Legal and Social Issues (ELSI) program because of his concerns about misuse of the fruits of the project.
Watson’s association with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory began in 1947 when he came as a graduate student with his supervisor, Salvador Luria. Luria, with Max Delbruck, was teaching the legendary Phage Course. Watson returned repeatedly to CSHL, most notably in 1953 when he gave the first public presentation of the DNA double helix at that year’s annual Symposium. He became a CSHL trustee in 1965.
CSHL was created in 1964 by the merger of two institutes that existed in Cold Spring Harbor since 1890 and 1902, respectively. In 1968, Watson became the second director when he was 40 years old. John Cairns, the first director, had begun to revive the institute but it was still not far short of being destitute when Watson took charge. He immediately showed his great skills in choosing important topics for research, selecting scientists and raising funds.
Also in 1968, Watson married Elizabeth (Liz) Lewis, and they have lived on the CSHL campus their entire lives together. Jim and Liz have two sons, Rufus and Duncan. As with the former Directors, they fostered close relationships with the local Cold Spring Harbor community.
In 1969, Watson focused research at CSHL on cancer, specifically on DNA viruses that cause cancer. The study of these viruses resulted in many fundamental discoveries of important biological processes, including the Nobel prize-winning discovery of RNA splicing. Watson was the first Director of CSHL’s National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, which remains today.
Watson was passionate about science education and promoting research through meetings and courses. Meetings began at CSHL in 1933 with the Symposium series, and the modern advanced courses started with the Phage course in 1945. Watson greatly expanded both programs, making CSHL the leading venue for learning the latest research in the life sciences. Publishing also increased, notably of laboratory manuals, epitomized by Molecular Cloning, and several journals began, led by Genes & Development and later Genome Research. He encouraged the creation of the DNA Learning Center, unique in providing hands-on genetic education for high-school students. There are now DNA Learning Centers throughout the world.
Through a substantial gift to CSHL in 1973 by Charles Robertson, Watson started the Banbury Center on the Robertsons’ 54-acre estate in nearby Lloyd Harbor. Today, this center functions as an important “think tank” for advancing research and policies on many issues related to life and medical sciences.
From the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and contributions to cancer research
A renowned molecular biologist, teacher, and author, Dr. Watson is best known as the co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA, for which he won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. First announced in early April 1953 by the director of the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, the discovery went largely unnoticed until a paper reporting it appeared in the April 25, 1953, issue of Nature. Prominent biologists later described the finding as the most important scientific discovery of the 20th century.
Dr. Watson headed the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health from 1990 to 1992. In 2007, he became the second person to publish his personal fully sequenced genome online. Ahead of his time as usual, he said he did so to “encourage the development of an era of personalized medicine”, in which information contained in our genomes can be used to identify and prevent disease and to create individualized medical therapies. – He has written several highly regarded molecular biology textbooks and in 1968 published a personal account in The Double Helix, which became one of Modern Library ‘s 100 Best Nonfiction Books.
Career Highlights
2001 Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences
2000 The Liberty Medal, National Constitution Center
1999 Honorary Member, AACR
1997 National Medal of Science, National Science Foundation
1994-2004 President, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
1993 Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London
1988-1992 Director, Human Genome Project, NIH
1971 John J. Carty Award in Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences
1975 Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2002 Gairdner Foundation International Award
1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1960 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
1959 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry
1959 John Collins Warren Prize, Massachusetts General Hospital
1950 PhD, Indiana University, Bloomington
Read a wonderful biography on OncoDaily https://oncodaily.com/history/hall-of-fame/james-watson-and-dna
In the Words of Colleagues who Worked With Dr. James Watson
Philip Sharp
Molecular biologist Phillip Allen Sharp received the 1993 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of splicing of introns and exons or “split genes.” He found that these genes are the most common type of gene structure in higher organisms, including humans. He shared the prize with Richard John Roberts, who discovered split genes independently of Sharp. The discovery of split genes has been of fundamental importance to basic research in biology as well as medical research on the development of cancer and other diseases. The discovery of split genes led to the prediction of the genetic process of splicing.
Here is a great interview with Nobel Laureate Dr. Philip Sharp and working with Jim Watson at Cold Spring Harbor Labs
Watch Video
These are the parts of the transcript he talk about working with Jim Watson. Note he also seeked out David Baltimore to do a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT on viruses.
Transcript:
Sharp: So I also wanted to begin to work with human cells. And I wanted to work with viruses that infected human cells, because, again, I could isolate their DNA. And I could understand that DNA. And I got that experience from working with Jerry Vinograd at Caltech, who was also a professor there. And I collaborated with him and Norman once while I was there. So I wanted to learn virology. And I contacted three labs to do a second postdoc for a period of time. Dave Baltimore, who was here at MIT, Howard Temin up at Wisconsin, and Jim Watson at Cold Spring Harbor. And Jim invited me to come to Cold Spring Harbor. I moved there to start working with animal viruses. He had just come down from Harvard to take over Cold Spring Harbor and was expanding the tumor virus program there.So I joined that program and started to work with mammalian cells and DNA tumor viruses that cause tumors in animals. But to me they were a tool as well to begin to look at gene structure and function in the human cells.
INTERVIEWER: So as a humanist, for lack of a better word, you were interested on some level in the potential for the curative powers of biology by studying viruses; but as a chemist you saw viruses as this platform, a window, into the structure of DNA.
SHARP: That’s right, and the structure of cells. How the complex human cell worked. Because in the early 1970s, we really didn’t have the tools to begin to understand the biology, molecular biology, or cell biology of human cells. It was really a totally unexplored at the level of a gene and how it functioned. And I saw this as a chemist as a tool that I could move into that question. And I knew that question was central to human biology. I mean, you can’t understand the biology of an organism without understanding the gene. So it seemed pretty apparent to me. It’s sort of written on the wall, understand what the gene is. And so I, you know, had multiple reasons to begin these studies. Some was, you know, how cancer developed. Others were fundamental. What was a gene.
INTERVIEWER: Most people who’ve understood James Watson by reputation at the time that you went to study with him viewed him as a towering pillar of science who had answered an enormously important question in biology for all time. But when you went to study with him, you were, in fact, seeing it from the other side, that, in fact, Watson’s work was just the beginning of an extremely long journey that we’re still on. How did he understand that we were at the beginning of something, versus how you understood it. And how did that work in your relationship?
SHARP: Jim at that stage, you know, he had done so much. He had discovered the structure of DNA. He’d built the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Harvard, the most outstanding department in the country focused on that. Written his text book, The Molecular Biology of the Gene, which was the introduction to students of this fascinating field. And took over Cold Spring Harbor and resurrected from a lab that was not going to survive much longer. He constructed, he understood that DNA was a critical tool in understanding complex biology. And that this subject would lead to increasing insights. He obviously had a much greater vision of all the relationships of, you know, different parts of biology to these questions than I did. And he gathered around him very bright, energetic, interesting people. And he’s sort of chit chatted at the top, left him alone. And when he found something that was interesting that happened in that mix, he would sort of pluck it out and say, “nice work”, you know. “Write that up. Tell other people about that.” And so he played that sort of, you know, very senior mentor and creator of a community. And in that community, I found some really wonderful people, very talented people. Joe Sambrook who I collaborated with. And Ulf Pettersson and Mike Botchan and a whole host of others who are now all leaders around the world. So it was just a very stimulating environment.
INTERVIEWER: Again, this sense of a team of people working at the top of their game, focused in any way they can, using all the disciplines of knowledge at their disposal on the problems that excite them.
SHARP: That’s true, and a team in which there are different disciplines. Jim understood this, that he needed someone with more physical chemistry; and he needed someone with chemistry. And he needed a biologist. And he needed this biochemist. And he sort of, you know, mixed people that would complement one another. And I was the individual who came in with a broad interest in biology, new and physical chemistry, new electron microscopy. And there was a lot of people in the environment that were virologists and cell biologists who needed this sort of tools to do their science. So we complemented each other and stimulated each other.
Sir Richard John Roberts, Ph.D.
Sir Richard John Roberts was co-awarded with Philip Sharp the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of RNA splicing. They both worked at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories. Dr. Roberts also discovered numerous restriction enzymes which he used to develop DNA sequencing of complex genomes. He also co-founded New England BioLabs. Below is an interesting interview of his quick hiring interview with Jim Watson and his time at Cold Spring Harbor Labs.
Other Notable Scientists Who Have been Mentored and interacted with Dr. Watson
Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph,D.
Dr. Giordano is the President and Founder of the Sbarro Health Research Organization and Professor in Biology at Temple University and ‘chiara fama’ Professor of Anatomic Pathology in the Department of Medical Biotechnology at the University of Siena, in Siena, Italy. He discovered the tumor suppressor RBL2/p130 and showed its alteration in multiple tumor types, showing the first molecular evidence that causually linked proliferation and cancer. In addition he has discovered cyclin dependent kinases CDK9 and CDK10, as well as other regulators and development of new classes of inhibitors of the cell cycle.
Dr. Antonio Giordano with his mentor and colleague Dr. James Watson. Dr. James Dewey Watson discovered the structure of the DNA molecule with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkens, whom he also received the Nobel Prize for. On the left is a signed copy to Dr. Giordano of Watson’s book the Double Helix.
Other articles of relevance on James Watson and the DNA Helix on this Open Access Journal include:
switching on genes
The Human Genome Gets Fully Sequenced: A Simplistic Take on Century Long Effort
The Search for the Genetic Code
International Award for Human Genome Project
Cracking the Genome – Inside the Race to Unlock Human DNA – quotes in newspapers
The Human Genome Project
Junk DNA and Breast Cancer
A Perspective on Personalized Medicine
2012pharmaceutical
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