Editing James Watson (section)

==Career and research==
===Luria, Delbrück, and the Phage Group===
Originally, Watson was drawn into molecular biology by the work of [[Salvador Luria]]. Luria eventually shared the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the [[Luria–Delbrück experiment]], which concerned the nature of genetic [[mutation]]s. He was part of a distributed group of researchers who were making use of the [[virus]]es that infect [[bacteria]], called [[bacteriophage]]s. He and [[Max Delbrück]] were among the leaders of this new "[[Phage Group]]", an important movement of geneticists from experimental systems such as ''[[Drosophila]]'' towards microbial genetics. Early in 1948, Watson began his PhD research in Luria's laboratory at Indiana University.<ref name="watsonphd"/> That spring, he met Delbrück first in Luria's apartment and again that summer during Watson's first trip to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.<ref name=AuthorPage>{{cite book|last2=Berry|first1=James D.|last1=Watson|first2=Andrew|title=DNA : the secret of life|year=2003|publisher=Knopf|location=New York|isbn=978-0375415463|url=https://archive.org/details/dnasecretoflife00wats|edition=1st}}</ref><ref name="Luria">{{cite web|url=http://www.cshl.edu/gradschool/Non-Research-Faculty/james-d-watson |title=James D. Watson Chancellor Emeritus |access-date=December 5, 2013 |last=Watson |first=James D. |year=2012 |publisher=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211150032/http://www.cshl.edu/gradschool/Non-Research-Faculty/james-d-watson |archive-date=December 11, 2013}}</ref>

The Phage Group was the intellectual medium where Watson became a working scientist. Importantly, the members of the Phage Group sensed that they were on the path to discovering the physical nature of the [[gene]]. In 1949, Watson took a course with Felix Haurowitz that included the conventional view of that time: that genes were [[protein]]s and able to replicate themselves.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Putnum |first=Frank W. |title=Biographical Memoirs – Felix Haurowitz|url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4547&page=144 |edition=volume 64 |year=1994 |publisher=The National Academies Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=0-309-06978-5 |pages=134–163 |quote=Among [Haurowitz's] students was Jim Watson, then a graduate student of Luria.}}</ref> The other major molecular component of [[chromosome]]s, DNA, was widely considered to be a "stupid tetranucleotide", serving only a structural role to support the proteins.<ref name=Stewart>{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Ian |author-link1=Ian Stewart (mathematician) |title=The Mathematics of Life |url=https://archive.org/details/mathematicslife00stew_563 |url-access=limited |year=2011 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-02238-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mathematicslife00stew_563/page/n13 5] |chapter=The structure of DNA}}</ref> Even at this early time, Watson, under the influence of the Phage Group, was aware of the [[Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment]], which suggested that DNA was the genetic molecule. Watson's research project involved using [[X-ray]]s to inactivate bacterial viruses.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Watson | first1 = J. D. | year = 1950 | title = The properties of x-ray inactivated bacteriophage. I. Inactivation by direct effect | journal = Journal of Bacteriology | volume = 60 | issue = 6 | pages = 697–718 | pmid = 14824063 | pmc = 385941 | doi = 10.1128/JB.60.6.697-718.1950}}</ref>

Watson then went to [[Copenhagen University]] in September 1950 for a year of postdoctoral research, first heading to the laboratory of biochemist [[Herman Kalckar]].<ref name="The Nobel Foundation"/> Kalckar was interested in the enzymatic synthesis of nucleic acids, and he wanted to use phages as an experimental system. Watson wanted to explore the structure of DNA, and his interests did not coincide with Kalckar's.<ref name="mcelheny"/> After working part of the year with Kalckar, Watson spent the remainder of his time in Copenhagen conducting experiments with microbial physiologist Ole Maaløe, then a member of the Phage Group.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Putnam | first1 = F. W.
| title = Growing up in the golden age of protein chemistry
| doi = 10.1002/pro.5560020919
| journal = Protein Science
| volume = 2
| issue = 9
| pages = 1536–1542
| year = 1993
| pmid = 8401238
| pmc =2142464
}}</ref>

The experiments, which Watson had learned of during the previous summer's Cold Spring Harbor phage conference, included the use of radioactive phosphate as a tracer to determine which molecular components of phage particles actually infect the target bacteria during viral infection.<ref name="mcelheny">{{Cite book|last=McElheny |first=Victor K. |title=Watson and DNA: Making a Scientific Revolution |year=2004 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=0-7382-0866-3 |page=28}}</ref> The intention was to determine whether protein or DNA was the genetic material, but upon consultation with Max Delbrück,<ref name="mcelheny"/> they determined that their results were inconclusive and could not specifically identify the newly labeled molecules as DNA.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Maaløe | first1 = O.
| last2 = Watson | first2 = J. D.
| title = The Transfer of Radioactive Phosphorus from Parental to Progeny Phage
| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
| volume = 37
| issue = 8
| pages = 507–513
| year = 1951
| pmid = 16578386
| pmc = 1063410
 | doi=10.1073/pnas.37.8.507
|bibcode = 1951PNAS...37..507M | doi-access = free
}}</ref> Watson never developed a constructive interaction with Kalckar, but he did accompany Kalckar to a meeting in Italy, where Watson saw [[Maurice Wilkins]] talk about X-ray diffraction data for DNA.<ref name="The Nobel Foundation"/> Watson was now certain that DNA had a definite molecular structure that could be elucidated.<ref>{{cite book|last=Judson|first=Horace Freeland|title=The eighth day of creation: makers of the revolution in biology|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/eighthdayofcreat00juds_1|chapter-url-access=registration|year=1979|publisher=Simon and Schuster|location=New York|isbn=0-671-22540-5|edition=1st Touchstone|chapter=2}}</ref>

In 1951, the chemist [[Linus Pauling]] in California published his model of the amino acid [[alpha helix]], a result that grew out of Pauling's efforts in [[X-ray crystallography]] and molecular model building. After obtaining some results from his phage and other experimental research<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.cshl.edu/R/GNCJKTHBM7E7M3ALB43BLV2SNXC2GKHNKYU5M3HIX5Q985CBKY-00055?func=collections-result&collection_id=1302|title=PDS SSO|access-date=June 29, 2015|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224015407/http://archives.cshl.edu/R/GNCJKTHBM7E7M3ALB43BLV2SNXC2GKHNKYU5M3HIX5Q985CBKY-00055?func=collections-result&collection_id=1302|url-status=dead}}</ref> conducted at Indiana University, [[Statens Serum Institut]] (Denmark), CSHL, and the [[California Institute of Technology]], Watson now had the desire to learn to perform [[X-ray diffraction]] experiments so he could work to determine the structure of DNA. That summer, Luria met [[John Kendrew]],<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Holmes | first1 = K. C. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2001.0018 | title = Sir John Cowdery Kendrew. March 24, 1917 – August 23, 1997: Elected F.R.S. 1960 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 47 | pages = 311–332 | year = 2001 | pmid = 15124647| title-link = John Kendrew | doi-access = free | hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-0028-EC77-7 | hdl-access = free}}</ref> and he arranged for a new [[postdoctoral research]] project for Watson in England.<ref name="The Nobel Foundation"/> In 1951 Watson visited the [[Stazione Zoologica|Stazione Zoologica 'Anton Dohrn']] in [[Naples]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilmattino.it/persone/il_nobel_watson_senza_napoli_non_avrei_scoperto_la_doppia_elica_del_dna/notizie/57385.shtml|title=Il Mattino|work=ilmattino.it|access-date=June 29, 2013|archive-date=August 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818020817/https://www.ilmattino.it/persone/il_nobel_watson_senza_napoli_non_avrei_scoperto_la_doppia_elica_del_dna/notizie/57385.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Identifying the double helix===
[[File:DNA Model Crick-Watson.jpg|upright|thumb|DNA model built by Crick and Watson in 1953, in the [[Science Museum (London)|Science Museum, London]]]]

In mid-March 1953, Watson and Crick deduced the [[double helix]] structure of DNA.<ref name="The Nobel Foundation" /> Crucial to their discovery were the experimental data collected at [[King's College London]]—mainly by [[Rosalind Franklin]] for whom they did not provide proper attribution.<ref name="Profile">{{cite web |title=James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and Rosalind Franklin |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/james-watson-francis-crick-maurice-wilkins-and-rosalind-franklin |work=Science History Institute |access-date=March 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321132408/https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/james-watson-francis-crick-maurice-wilkins-and-rosalind-franklin |archive-date=March 21, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="WrongedHeroine">{{cite journal |last1=Maddox |first1=Brenda |date=January 2003 |title=The double helix and the 'wronged heroine' |journal=Nature |volume=421 |issue=6921 |pages=407–408 |bibcode=2003Natur.421..407M |doi=10.1038/nature01399 |pmid=12540909 |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Lawrence Bragg|Sir Lawrence Bragg]],<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Phillips | first1 = D. | author-link = David Chilton Phillips| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1979.0003 | title = William Lawrence Bragg. 31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 25 | pages = 74–143| year = 1979 | jstor = 769842| s2cid = 119994416 | doi-access = }}</ref> the director of the [[Cavendish Laboratory]] (where Watson and Crick worked), made the original announcement of the discovery at a [[Solvay conference]] on [[protein]]s in Belgium on April 8, 1953; it went unreported by the press. Watson and Crick submitted a paper entitled "[[Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid]]" to the scientific journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', which was published on April 25, 1953.<ref name="nobel">{{cite journal | last1 = Watson | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Crick | first2 = F. H. | year = 1953 | title = A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acids | url = http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/watsoncrick.pdf | journal = Nature | volume = 171 | issue = 4356| pages = 737–738 | doi = 10.1038/171737a0 | pmid=13054692 | bibcode=1953Natur.171..737W| s2cid = 4253007}}</ref> Bragg gave a talk at the [[Guy's Hospital]] Medical School in London on Thursday, May 14, 1953, which resulted in a May 15, 1953, article by [[Peter Ritchie Calder|Ritchie Calder]] in the London newspaper ''[[News Chronicle]]'', entitled "Why You Are You. Nearer Secret of Life".

[[Sydney Brenner]], [[Jack D. Dunitz|Jack Dunitz]], [[Dorothy Hodgkin]], [[Leslie Orgel]], and Beryl M. Oughton were some of the first people in April 1953 to see the model of the structure of [[DNA]], constructed by Crick and Watson; at the time, they were working at [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]]'s chemistry department. All were impressed by the new DNA model, especially Brenner, who subsequently worked with Crick at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] in the Cavendish Laboratory and the new [[Laboratory of Molecular Biology]]. According to the late Beryl Oughton, later Rimmer, they all travelled together in two cars once Dorothy Hodgkin announced to them that they were off to Cambridge to see the model of the structure of DNA.<ref>{{cite book |last=Olby |first=Robert |title=Francis Crick: hunter of life's secrets |year=2009 |publisher=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press |location=Cold Spring Harbor, New York |isbn=978-0-87969-798-3 |chapter=10 |page=181}}</ref>

[[File:AMNHWatson.jpg|thumb|right|Watson's name on New York City's [[Nobel Monument]]; it lists American laureates only, not Crick and Wilkins who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.]]
The Cambridge University student newspaper ''[[Varsity (Cambridge)|Varsity]]'' ran its own short article on the discovery on Saturday, May 30, 1953. Watson subsequently presented a paper on the double-helical structure of DNA at the 18th Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Viruses in early June 1953, six weeks after the publication of the Watson and Crick paper in ''Nature''. Many at the meeting had not yet heard of the discovery. The 1953 Cold Spring Harbor Symposium was the first opportunity for many to see the model of the DNA double helix. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for their research on the structure of nucleic acids.<ref name="The Nobel Foundation" /><ref name="nytimesnobel">{{cite news| title = No Nobel Prize for Whining | last = Judson |first=H. F. | date = October 20, 2003 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C02E4DE123EF933A15753C1A9659C8B63 | newspaper = The New York Times | access-date = August 3, 2007}}</ref><ref name=NobelLecture>{{cite web|last=Watson|first=James|title=Nobel Lecture December 11, 1962 The Involvement of RNA in the Synthesis of Proteins|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1962/watson-lecture.html|work=11 December 1962|publisher=Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media|access-date=December 5, 2013}}</ref> Rosalind Franklin had died in 1958 and was therefore ineligible for nomination.<ref name="Profile"/> The publication of the double helix structure of DNA has been described as a turning point in science; understanding of life was fundamentally changed and the modern era of biology began.<ref name="60years">{{cite news|last=Rutherford|first=Adam|title=DNA double helix: discovery that led to 60 years of biological revolution|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/apr/25/dna-double-helix-60-years-biological-revolution|access-date=December 6, 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=April 24, 2013}}</ref>

====Interactions with Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling====
Watson and Crick's use of [[Photo 51|DNA X-ray diffraction data]] collected by [[Rosalind Franklin]] and her student [[Raymond Gosling]] has attracted scrutiny. It has been argued that Watson and his colleagues did not properly acknowledge colleague [[Rosalind Franklin]] for her contributions to the discovery of the double helix structure.<ref name="WrongedHeroine" /><ref name="nih_embo_report">{{cite journal |last=Stasiak |first=Andrzej |date=March 15, 2001 |title=Rosalind Franklin |journal=EMBO Reports |publisher=[[National Institutes of Health]] |volume=2 |issue=3 |page=181 |doi=10.1093/embo-reports/kve037 |pmc=1083834}}</ref> [[Robert P. Crease]] notes that "Such stingy behaviour may not be unknown, or even uncommon, among scientists".<ref name="Crease-2003">{{Cite journal |last=Crease |first=Robert P. |date=2003 |title=The Rosalind Franklin question |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2058-7058/16/3/23 |journal=Physics World |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=17 |doi=10.1088/2058-7058/16/3/23 |issn=0953-8585}}</ref> Franklin's high-quality X-ray diffraction patterns of DNA were unpublished results, which Watson and Crick used without her knowledge or consent in their construction of the double helix model of DNA.<ref name="nih_embo_report"/><ref name="Profile"/><ref name="Judson">Judson, H. F. (1996). ''The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology''. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, chapter 3. {{ISBN|0-87969-478-5}}.</ref> Franklin's results provided estimates of the water content of DNA crystals and these results were consistent with the two sugar-phosphate backbones being on the outside of the molecule. Franklin told Crick and Watson that the backbones had to be on the outside; before then, Linus Pauling and Watson and Crick had erroneous models with the chains inside and the bases pointing outwards.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Her identification of the [[space group]] for DNA crystals revealed to Crick that the two DNA strands were [[Antiparallel (biochemistry)|antiparallel]].

The X-ray diffraction images collected by Gosling and Franklin provided the best evidence for the helical nature of DNA. Watson and Crick had three sources for Franklin's unpublished data: 
#Her 1951 seminar, attended by Watson;<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cullen |first=Katherine E. |title=Biology: the people behind the science |year=2006 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing|Chelsea House]] |location=New York |isbn=0-8160-5461-4 |page=136}}</ref>
#Discussions with Wilkins,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cullen |first=Katherine E. |title=Biology: the people behind the science |year=2006 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing|Chelsea House]] |location=New York |isbn=0-8160-5461-4 |page=140}}</ref> who worked in the same laboratory with Franklin;
#A research progress report that was intended to promote coordination of [[Medical Research Council (UK)|Medical Research Council]]-supported laboratories.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Stocklmayer |first1=Susan M. |author-link1=Susan Stocklmayer|last2=Gore |first2=Michael M. |last3=Bryant |first3=Chris |title=Science Communication in Theory and Practice |year=2001 |publisher=[[Wolters Kluwer|Kluwer Academic Publishers]] |isbn=1-4020-0131-2 |page=79}}</ref> Watson, Crick, Wilkins and Franklin all worked in MRC laboratories.

In a 1954 article, Watson and Crick acknowledged that, without Franklin's data, "the formulation of our structure would have been most unlikely, if not impossible".<ref name="Cobb-2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Cobb |first1=Matthew |last2=Comfort |first2=Nathaniel |date=2023 |title=What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA's structure |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=616 |issue=7958 |pages=657–660 |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-01313-5|pmid=37100935 |bibcode=2023Natur.616..657C |doi-access=free}}</ref> In ''[[The Double Helix]]'', Watson later admitted that "Rosy, of course, did not directly give us her data. For that matter, no one at King's realized they were in our hands". In recent years, Watson has garnered controversy in the popular and scientific press for his "misogynist treatment" of Franklin and his failure to properly attribute her work on DNA.<ref name="WrongedHeroine" /> According to one critic, Watson's portrayal of Franklin in ''[[The Double Helix]]'' was negative, giving the impression that she was Wilkins' assistant and was unable to interpret her own DNA data.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Elkin | first1 = L. O. | year = 2003 | title = Franklin and the Double Helix | journal = Physics Today | volume = 56 | issue = 3 | page = 42 | doi = 10.1063/1.1570771 | bibcode = 2003PhT....56c..42E | doi-access = free}}</ref> Watson's accusation was indefensible since Franklin told Crick and Watson that the helix backbones had to be on the outside.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> From a 2003 piece by [[Brenda Maddox]] in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'':<ref name="WrongedHeroine" />

{{blockquote|Other comments dismissive of "Rosy" in Watson's book caught the attention of the emerging women's movement in the late 1960s. "Clearly Rosy had to go or be put in her place ... Unfortunately Maurice could not see any decent way to give Rosy the boot". And, "Certainly a bad way to go out into the foulness of a ... November night was to be told by a woman to refrain from venturing an opinion about a subject for which you were not trained."}}

[[Robert P. Crease]] remarks that "[Franklin] was close to figuring out the structure of DNA, but did not do it. The title of 'discoverer' goes to those who first fit the pieces together".<ref name="Crease-2003" /> [[Jeremy Bernstein]] rejects that Franklin was a "victim" and states that "[Watson and Crick] made the double-helix scheme work. It is as simple as that".<ref name="Crease-2003" /> [[Matthew Cobb]] and [[Nathaniel C. Comfort]] write that "Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved" but that she was "an equal contributor to the solution of the structure".<ref name="Cobb-2023" />

A review of the correspondence from Franklin to Watson, in the archives at CSHL, revealed that the two scientists later exchanged constructive scientific correspondence. Franklin consulted with Watson on her tobacco mosaic virus RNA research. Franklin's letters were framed with the normal and unremarkable forms of address, beginning with "Dear Jim", and concluding with "Best Wishes, Yours, Rosalind". Each of the scientists published their own unique contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA in separate articles, and all of the contributors published their findings in the same volume of ''Nature''. These classic molecular biology papers are identified as: Watson J. D. and Crick F. H. C. "A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid". ''Nature'' 171, 737–738 (1953);<ref name="nobel" /> Wilkins M. H. F., Stokes A. R. & Wilson H. R. "Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids". ''Nature'' 171, 738–740 (1953);<ref name="pentose">{{cite journal | last1 = Wilkins | first1 = M. H. F. | last2 = Stokes | first2 = A. R. | last3 = Wilson | first3 = H. R. | year = 1953| title = Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids | url = http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/wilkins.pdf | journal = Nature | volume = 171 | issue = 4356| pages = 738–740 | doi = 10.1038/171738a0 | pmid=13054693 | bibcode=1953Natur.171..738W| s2cid = 4280080}}</ref> Franklin R. and Gosling R. G. "Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate". ''Nature'' 171, 740–741 (1953).<ref name="franklin">{{cite journal | last1 = Franklin | first1 = R. | last2 = Gosling | first2 = R. G. | year = 1953 | title = Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate | url = http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/franklingosling.pdf | journal = Nature | volume = 171 | issue = 4356| pages = 740–741 | doi = 10.1038/171740a0 | pmid=13054694 | bibcode=1953Natur.171..740F| s2cid = 4268222}}</ref>

===Harvard University===
In 1956, Watson accepted a position in the biology department at [[Harvard University]]. His work at Harvard focused on RNA and its role in the transfer of genetic information.<ref name=Ladder>{{cite web|title=The DNA molecule is shaped like a twisted ladder|url=http://www.dnaftb.org/19/bio.html|work=DNA from the beginning|publisher=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory|access-date=December 6, 2013}}</ref>

Watson championed a switch in focus for the school from [[History of biology|classical biology]] to [[molecular biology]], stating that disciplines such as [[ecology]], [[developmental biology]], [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]], [[physiology]], etc. had stagnated and could progress only once the underlying disciplines of molecular biology and [[biochemistry]] had elucidated their underpinnings, going so far as to discourage their study by students.

Watson continued to be a member of the Harvard faculty until 1976, even though he took over the directorship of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1968.<ref name=Ladder />

During his tenure at Harvard, Watson participated in a protest against the [[Vietnam War]], leading a group of 12 biologists and biochemists calling for "the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam".<ref>"Faculty Support Grows For Anti-War Proposal", ''The Harvard Crimson'', October 3, 1969.</ref> In 1975, on the thirtieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Watson was one of over 2000 scientists and engineers who spoke out against nuclear proliferation to President [[Gerald Ford]], arguing that there was no proven method for the safe disposal of radioactive waste, and that nuclear plants were a security threat due to the possibility of terrorist theft of plutonium.<ref>"Three Harvard Scientists Lead Call to Stop Nuclear Reactors", ''The Harvard Crimson'', August 5, 1975.</ref>

Watson's first textbook, ''The Molecular Biology of the Gene'', used the concept of heads—brief declarative subheadings.<ref name=MBOTG>{{cite book|last=Watson|first=J. D.|title=Molecular biology of the gene|year=1965|publisher=W. A. Benjamin|location=New York}}</ref> His next textbook was [[Molecular biology of the cell (textbook)|''Molecular Biology of the Cell'']], in which he coordinated the work of a group of scientist-writers. His third was ''Recombinant DNA'', which described the ways in which [[genetic engineering]] has brought new information about how organisms function.

===Publishing ''The Double Helix''===
In 1968, Watson wrote ''[[The Double Helix]]'',<ref name=DH>{{cite book|last=Watson|first=J. D.|title=The double helix: a personal account of the discovery of the structure of DNA|year=1968|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|location=London}}</ref> listed by the board of the [[Modern Library]] as number seven in their list of ''[[Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction|100 Best Nonfiction]]'' books.<ref name=ModernLibrary>{{cite web|title=100 Best Nonfiction: The Board's List|url=http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-nonfiction/|publisher=Modern Library|access-date=December 6, 2013}}</ref> The book details the story of the discovery of the structure of DNA, as well as the personalities, conflicts and controversy surrounding their work, and includes many of his private emotional impressions at the time. Watson's original title was to have been "Honest Jim".<ref name=honest_jim>{{cite news|last=Rutherford|first=Adam|title=He may have unravelled DNA, but James Watson deserves to be shunned|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/01/dna-james-watson-scientist-selling-nobel-prize-medal|date=December 1, 2014|access-date=October 10, 2019}}</ref> Controversy surrounded the publication of the book. Watson's book was originally to be published by the [[Harvard University Press]], but Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, among others, objected. Watson's home university dropped the project and the book was commercially published.<ref>Watson's 1968 autobiographical account, ''[[The Double Helix|The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA]]''. For an edition which contains critical responses, book reviews, and copies of the original scientific papers, see James D. Watson, ''The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA'', Norton Critical Edition, Gunther Stent, ed. (New York: Norton, 1980).</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Witkowski| editor1-first=Jan |first1=James D. |last1=Watson|editor2-first=Alexander |editor2-last=Gann|title=The annotated and illustrated double helix|year=2012|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|isbn=978-1-476715-49-0|edition=1st Simon & Schuster hardcover}}</ref> In an interview with Anne Sayre for her book, ''Rosalind Franklin and DNA'' (published in 1975 and reissued in 2000), Francis Crick said that he regarded Watson's book as a "contemptible pack of damned nonsense".<ref>{{cite book | last=Sayre | first=Anne | title=Rosalind Franklin and DNA | publisher=Norton | publication-place=New York | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-393-32044-2 | oclc=45105026 | page=212}}</ref>

===Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory===
{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= [[File:James Watson 2012 TTChao Symposium.jpg|200px]] | video1 = [http://vimeo.com/75428437 "James Watson: Why society isn't ready for genomic-based medicine"], 2012, [[Chemical Heritage Foundation]]}}

In 1968, Watson became the director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Between 1970 and 1972, the Watsons' two sons were born, and by 1974, the young family made Cold Spring Harbor their permanent residence. Watson served as the laboratory's director and president for about 35 years, and later he assumed the role of chancellor and then chancellor emeritus.

In his roles as director, president, and chancellor, Watson led CSHL to articulate its present-day mission, "dedication to exploring molecular biology and genetics in order to advance the understanding and ability to diagnose and treat cancers, neurological diseases, and other causes of human suffering."<ref name=Cork>{{cite news|last=O'Sullivan |first=Gerald |title=Honorary Doctorate awarded to Nobel Laureate: Text of the Introductory Address |url=http://www.ucc.ie/en/news/newsarchive/2010pressreleases/fullstory-105821-en.html |access-date=December 5, 2013 |publisher=University College, Cork, Ireland |date=September 8, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206010032/http://www.ucc.ie/en/news/newsarchive/2010pressreleases/fullstory-105821-en.html |archive-date=February 6, 2015}}</ref> Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory substantially expanded both its research and its science educational programs under Watson's direction. He is credited with "transforming a small facility into one of the world's great education and research institutions. Initiating a program to study the cause of human cancer, scientists under his direction have made major contributions to understanding the genetic basis of cancer."<ref name=CSHL /> In a retrospective summary of Watson's accomplishments there, [[Bruce William Stillman|Bruce Stillman]], the laboratory's president, said, "Jim Watson created a research environment that is unparalleled in the world of science."<ref name=CSHL />

In 2007, Watson said, "I turned against the [[left wing]] because they don't like genetics, because genetics implies that sometimes in life we fail because we have bad genes. They want all failure in life to be due to the evil system."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/ESQ0107jameswatson|title=Discovery of DNA structure – James Watson on the Double Helix|author=John H. Richardson|work=Esquire|date=October 19, 2007|access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref>

===Human Genome Project===
[[File:James Dewey Watson.jpg|thumb|Watson in 1992]]
In 1990, Watson was appointed as the head of the [[Human Genome Project]] at the [[National Institutes of Health]], a position he held until April 10, 1992.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nih.gov/about/almanac/organization/NHGRI.htm|title=National Human Genome Research Institute – Organization – The NIH Almanac – National Institutes of Health (NIH)|access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref> Watson left the Genome Project after conflicts with the new [[National Institutes of Health|NIH]] Director, [[Bernadine Healy]]. Watson was opposed to Healy's attempts to acquire patents on gene sequences, and any ownership of the "laws of nature". Two years before stepping down from the Genome Project, he had stated his own opinion on this long and ongoing controversy which he saw as an illogical barrier to research; he said, "The nations of the world must see that the human genome belongs to the world's people, as opposed to its nations." He left within weeks of the 1992 announcement that the NIH would be applying for patents on brain-specific cDNAs.<ref name="pollack">[[Robert Pollack (biologist)|Pollack, R.]] 1994. ''Signs of Life: The Language and Meanings of DNA''. Houghton Mifflin, page 95. {{ISBN|0-395-73530-0}}.</ref> (The issue of the patentability of genes has since been resolved in the US by the [[US Supreme Court]]; see ''[[Association for Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office]]''.)

In 1994, Watson became president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. [[Francis Collins (geneticist)|Francis Collins]] took over the role as director of the Human Genome Project.

Watson was quoted in ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' in 1997 as stating: "If you could find the gene which determines sexuality and a woman decides she doesn't want a homosexual child, well, let her."<ref>Macdonald, V. "Abort babies with gay genes, says Nobel winner", ''The Telegraph'', February 16, 1997. Retrieved on October 24, 2007.</ref> The biologist [[Richard Dawkins]] wrote a letter to ''The Independent'' claiming that Watson's position was misrepresented by ''The Sunday Telegraph'' article, and that Watson would equally consider the possibility of having a heterosexual child to be just as valid as any other reason for abortion, to emphasise that Watson is in favor of allowing choice.<ref>{{cite news| last = Dawkins | first = Richard | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letter-women-to-decide-on-gay-abortion-1279433.html | title = Letter: Women to decide on gay abortion | newspaper = The Independent | date = February 19, 1997 | access-date = October 24, 2007 | location=London}}</ref>

On the issue of obesity, Watson was quoted in 2000, saying: "Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you're not going to hire them."<ref name="chronicle">Abate, T. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/11/13/MN111208.DTL "Nobel Winner's Theories Raise Uproar in Berkeley Geneticist's views strike many as racist, sexist"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 13, 2000. Retrieved on October 24, 2007.</ref>

Watson has repeatedly supported [[Genetic testing|genetic screening]] and [[genetic engineering]] in public lectures and interviews, arguing that stupidity is a disease and the "really stupid" bottom 10% of people should be cured.<ref name="newscientist">Bhattacharya, S. [https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3451 "Stupidity should be cured, says DNA discoverer"], ''New Scientist'', February 28, 2003. Retrieved June 24, 2007.</ref> He has also suggested that beauty could be genetically engineered, saying in 2003, "People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would be great."<ref name="newscientist"/><ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/AR2007110702609.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=Susan P. | last=Williams | title=The Foot-in-Mouth Gene | date=November 8, 2007}}</ref>

In 2007, Watson became the second person<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/science/01gene.html "Genome of DNA Discoverer Is Deciphered"]. ''The New York Times'', June 1, 2007.</ref> to publish his fully sequenced genome online,<ref>[http://jimwatsonsequence.cshl.edu/ "James Watson genotypes, on NCBI B36 assembly"]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705140214/http://jimwatsonsequence.cshl.edu/ |date=July 5, 2008}}</ref> after it was presented to him on May 31, 2007, by [[454 Life Sciences]] Corporation<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Wheeler | first1 = D. A. | last2 = Srinivasan | first2 = M. | last3 = Egholm | first3 = M. | last4 = Shen | first4 = Y. | last5 = Chen | first5 = L. | last6 = McGuire | first6 = A. | last7 = He | first7 = W. | last8 = Chen | first8 = Y. J. | last9 = Makhijani | first9 = V. | last10 = Roth | first10 = G. T.| last11 = Gomes | first11 = X.| last12 = Tartaro | first12 = K.| last13 = Niazi | first13 = F.| last14 = Turcotte | first14 = C. L.| last15 = Irzyk | first15 = G. P.| last16 = Lupski | first16 = J. R.| last17 = Chinault | first17 = C.| last18 = Song | first18 = X.-Z.| last19 = Liu | first19 = Y.| last20 = Yuan | first20 = Y.| last21 = Nazareth | first21 = L.| last22 = Qin | first22 = X.| last23 = Muzny | first23 = D. M.| last24 = Margulies | first24 = M.| last25 = Weinstock | first25 = G. M.| last26 = Gibbs | first26 = R. A.| last27 = Rothberg | first27 = J. M.| doi = 10.1038/nature06884 | title = The complete genome of an individual by massively parallel DNA sequencing | journal = Nature | volume = 452 | issue = 7189 | pages = 872–876 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18421352|bibcode = 2008Natur.452..872W | doi-access = free}}</ref> in collaboration with scientists at the Human Genome Sequencing Center, [[Baylor College of Medicine]]. Watson was quoted as saying, "I am putting my genome sequence on line 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".<ref>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, June 28, 2003. [http://www.cshl.edu/public/releases/07_genotype_viewer.html "Watson Genotype Viewer Now On Line"]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205230609/http://www.cshl.edu/public/releases/07_genotype_viewer.html |date=December 5, 2007}}. Press release. Retrieved on September 16, 2007.</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20120803192155/http://jimwatsonsequence.cshl.edu/cgi-perl/gbrowse/jwsequence/?name=Sequence:NM_005516.3 "James Watson's Personal Genome Sequence"]</ref><ref>[http://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/pub/TraceDB/Personal_Genomics/ Watson's personal DNA sequence archive at the National Institutes of Health]</ref>

===Later life===
In 2014, Watson published a paper in ''[[The Lancet]]'' suggesting that biological [[oxidant]]s may have a different role than is thought in diseases including diabetes, dementia, heart disease and cancer. For example, [[type 2 diabetes]] is usually thought to be caused by oxidation in the body that causes inflammation and kills off pancreatic cells. Watson thinks the root of that inflammation is different: "a lack of biological oxidants, not an excess", and discusses this in detail. One critical response was that the idea was neither new nor worthy of merit, and that ''The Lancet'' published Watson's paper only because of his name.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/28/dna-pioneer-james-watson-theory-diseases|title=DNA pioneer James Watson sets out radical theory for range of diseases|author=Ian Sample|work=The Guardian|date=February 28, 2014|access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref> Other scientists have expressed their support for his hypothesis and have proposed that it can also be expanded to why a lack of oxidants can result in cancer and its progression.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Molenaar|first1=RJ|last2=van Noorden|first2=CJ|title=Type 2 diabetes and cancer as redox diseases?|journal=Lancet|date=September 6, 2014|volume=384|issue=9946|page=853|pmid=25209484|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(14)61485-9|s2cid=28902284|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2014, Watson sold his [[Nobel Prize medal]] to raise money after complaining of being made an "unperson" following controversial statements he had made.<ref>{{cite news |last=Crow |first=David |title=James Watson to sell Nobel Prize medal |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5fb47ebe-75bc-11e4-a1a9-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5fb47ebe-75bc-11e4-a1a9-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |access-date=December 1, 2014 |newspaper=Financial Times |date=November 28, 2014 |quote='Because I was an "unperson" I was fired from the boards of companies, so I have no income, apart from my academic income,' he said.}}</ref> Part of the funds raised by the sale went to support scientific research.<ref>{{cite web |title=DNA pioneer James Watson to sell Nobel Prize |last=Jones |first=Bryony |date=November 26, 2014 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/25/world/james-watson-to-sell-nobel-prize/ |website=CNN International World News |publisher=CNN |access-date=November 30, 2014 |quote=Watson says he intends to use part of the money raised by the sale to fund projects at the universities and scientific research institutions he has worked at throughout his career.}}</ref> The medal sold at auction at [[Christie's]] in December 2014 for {{USD|4.1 million}}. Watson intended to contribute the proceeds to conservation work in Long Island and to funding research at Trinity College, Dublin.<ref>{{cite web|title=[Watson, James Dewey]. Nobel Prize Medal|url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/watson-james-dewey-nobel-prize-medal-in-5857953-details.aspx|publisher=Christies}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/11261872/James-Watson-selling-Nobel-prize-because-no-one-wants-to-admit-I-exist.html|title=James Watson selling Nobel prize 'because no-one wants to admit I exist'|work=The Telegraph|access-date=August 21, 2017|language=en}}</ref> He was the first living Nobel recipient to auction a medal.<ref>{{cite web |title=DNA Laureate James Watson's Nobel Medal Sells for $4.1M |author=Borrell, Brendan |work=[[Scientific American]] |date=December 5, 2014 |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dna-laureate-james-watson-s-nobel-medal-sells-for-4-1m/?print=true}}</ref> The medal was later returned to Watson by the purchaser, [[Alisher Usmanov]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Russia's Usmanov to give back Watson's auctioned Nobel medal|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30406322|access-date=December 10, 2014|agency=BBC News|date=December 9, 2014}}</ref>

===Notable former students===
Several of Watson's former doctoral students subsequently became notable in their own right including, [[Mario Capecchi]],<ref name="capecchiphd"/> [[H. Robert Horvitz|Bob Horvitz]], [[Peter Moore (chemist)|Peter B. Moore]] and [[Joan A. Steitz|Joan Steitz]].<ref name=steitz/> Besides numerous PhD students, Watson also supervised postdoctoral researchers and other interns including [[Ewan Birney]],<ref name="thescientist"/> [[Ronald W. Davis]], [[Phillip Allen Sharp]] (postdoc), [[John Tooze]] (postdoc)<ref name=embook/><ref name="Ferry2014"/> and [[Richard J. Roberts]] (postdoc).<ref name=richardrobertys/>

===Other affiliations===
Watson is a former member of the Board of Directors of United Biomedical, Inc., founded by [[Chang Yi Wang]]. He held the position for six years and retired from the board in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unitedbiomedical.com/Board-of-directors.htm |title=Management Team |publisher=UBI |access-date=August 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328133050/http://www.unitedbiomedical.com/Board-of-directors.htm |archive-date=March 28, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 2007, Watson accepted the invitation of [[Leonor Beleza]], president of the [[Champalimaud Foundation]], to become the head of the foundation's scientific council, an advisory organ.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.publico.clix.pt/shownews.asp?id=1288894&idCanal=35 |title=Nobel James Watson vai presidir ao conselho científico da Fundação Champalimaud |author=Teresa Firmino |date=March 20, 2007 |access-date=March 22, 2007 |newspaper=Público |language=pt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324005652/http://www.publico.clix.pt/shownews.asp?id=1288894 |archive-date=March 24, 2007}}</ref><ref name=Algarve>{{cite news|last=Graeme |first=Chris |title=Cutting-edge cancer research centre opens in Lisbon |url=http://www.algarveresident.com/39699-0/algarve/cutting-edge-cancer-research-centre-opens-in-lisbon |access-date=December 6, 2013 |newspaper=Algarve Resident |date=December 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212182230/http://www.algarveresident.com/39699-0/algarve/cutting-edge-cancer-research-centre-opens-in-lisbon |archive-date=December 12, 2013}}</ref>

In March 2017, Watson was named head consultant of the Cheerland Investment Group, a Chinese investment company which sponsored his trip.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Normile |first=Dennis |date=5 April 2018 |title=DNA legend James Watson gave his name to a Chinese research center. Now, he's having second thoughts |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nobel-laureate-james-watson-gave-his-name-chinese-research-center-now-he-s-having |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |doi=10.1126/science.aat8024}}</ref>

Watson has been an institute adviser for the [[Allen Institute for Brain Science]].<ref name=Forbes>{{cite news|last=Herper|first=Matthew|title=Inside Paul Allen's Quest To Reverse Engineer The Brain|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/09/18/inside-paul-allens-quest-to-reverse-engineer-the-brain/2/|access-date=December 6, 2013|newspaper=Forbes|date=October 8, 2013}}</ref><ref name=AllenBrain>{{cite web|last=Costandi|first=Mo|title=Researchers announce completion of the Allen Brain Atlas|date=September 27, 2006|url=http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/09/27/researchers-announce-completion-of-the-allen-brain-atlas/|access-date=December 6, 2013}}</ref>

[[File:James Watson.jpg|thumb|upright|Watson in 2003]]

===''Avoid Boring People''===
[[File:JDWatson 2007-04-30.jpg|right|thumb|Watson signing autographs after a speech at [[Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory]] on April 30, 2007]]
Watson has had disagreements with [[Craig Venter]] regarding his use of [[Expressed sequence tag|EST]] fragments while Venter worked at [[National Institutes of Health]]. Venter went on to found [[Celera]] genomics and continued his feud with Watson. Watson was quoted as calling Venter "Hitler".<ref>Shreeve. J. 2005. ''The Genome War: How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World''. Ballantine Books, page 48. {{ISBN|0-345-43374-2}}.</ref>

In his 2007 memoir, ''Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science'', Watson describes his academic colleagues as "dinosaurs", "deadbeats", "fossils", "has-beens", "mediocre", and "vapid".<ref name="Watson-2007">{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=James D. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/80331733 |title=Avoid boring people: lessons from a life in science |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280273-6 |location=Oxford |oclc=80331733}}</ref> [[Steve Shapin]] in ''[[Harvard Magazine]]'' noted that Watson had written an unlikely "Book of Manners", telling about the skills needed at different times in a scientist's career; he wrote Watson was known for aggressively pursuing his own goals at the university. [[E. O. Wilson]] once described Watson as "the most unpleasant human being I had ever met", but in a later TV interview said that he considered them friends and their rivalry at Harvard "old history" (when they had competed for funding in their respective fields).<ref name="harv">Steven Shapin, [http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/01/chairman-of-the-bored.html "Chairman of the Bored"], ''Harvard Magazine'', January–February 2008</ref><ref name="charlierose">[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6927851714963534233 Charlie Rose Interview, paired with E. O. Wilson] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018060941/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6927851714963534233 |date=October 18, 2006}} December 14, 2005</ref>

In the epilogue to the memoir ''Avoid Boring People'', Watson alternately attacks and defends former Harvard University president [[Lawrence Summers]], who stepped down in 2006 due in part to his remarks about women and science.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/22/education/22harvard.html|title = President of Harvard Resigns, Ending Stormy 5-Year Tenure|newspaper = The New York Times|date = February 22, 2006}}</ref> Watson also states in the epilogue, "Anyone sincerely interested in understanding the imbalance in the representation of men and women in science must reasonably be prepared at least to consider the extent to which nature may figure, even with the clear evidence that nurture is strongly implicated."<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/><ref name="Watson-2007" />

===Comments on race===
At a conference in 2000, Watson suggested a link between skin color and sex drive, hypothesizing that dark-skinned people have stronger [[libido]]s.<ref name="chronicle"/><ref name="British Medical Journal - Melanotan">{{cite journal | last1 = Thompson | first1 = C. | last2 = Berger | first2 = A. | year = 2000 | title = Agent provocateur pursues happiness | journal = British Medical Journal | volume = 321 | issue = 7252| page = 12 | pmid = 10875824 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.321.7252.12 | pmc = 1127681}}</ref> His lecture argued that extracts of [[melanin]]—which gives skin its color—had been found to boost subjects' sex drive. "That's why you have [[Latin lover]]s", he said, according to people who attended the lecture. "You've never heard of an English lover. Only an [[The English Patient|English Patient]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WireStory?id=3743042&page=1 |title=UK Museum Cancels Scientist's Lecture |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=October 17, 2007 |access-date=May 28, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628201051/http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WireStory?id=3743042&page=1 |archive-date=June 28, 2011}}</ref> He has also said that stereotypes associated with racial and ethnic groups have a genetic basis: Jews being intelligent, Chinese being intelligent but not creative because of selection for conformity, and Indians being servile because of selection under caste endogamy.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reich |first=David. |title=Who We Are and How We Got Here |year=2019 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-882125-0|page=263}}</ref> Regarding intelligence differences between blacks and whites, Watson has asserted that "all our social policies are based on the fact that their (blacks) intelligence is the same as ours (whites) – whereas all the testing says not really&nbsp;... people who have to deal with black employees find this not true."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wagenseil|first=Paul|date=2015-03-25|title=DNA Discoverer: Blacks Less Intelligent Than Whites|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/dna-discoverer-blacks-less-intelligent-than-whites|access-date=2021-11-24|website=Fox News|language=en-US}}</ref>

Watson has repeatedly asserted that [[race and intelligence|differences in average measured IQ]] between blacks and whites are due to genetics.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fury-at-dna-pioneers-theory-africans-are-less-intelligent-than-westerners-394898.html|first=Cahal |last=Milmo
|title=Fury at DNA pioneer's theory: Africans are less intelligent than Westerners|work=The Independent|date=October 17, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Crawford|first=Hayley|title=Short Sharp Science: James Watson menaced by hoodies shouting 'racist!'|url=https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/04/james-watson-menaced-by-hoodie.html|magazine=New Scientist|access-date=April 24, 2014|quote=... 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'.|archive-date=January 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110054711/https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/04/james-watson-menaced-by-hoodie.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Comments2018">Harmon, Amy (January 1, 2019). [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/science/watson-dna-genetics-race.html "James Watson Had a Chance to Salvage His Reputation on Race. He Made Things Worse."] ''The New York Times''. Retrieved January 1, 2019.</ref> In early October 2007, he was interviewed by Charlotte Hunt-Grubbe at [[Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory]] (CSHL). He discussed his view that Africans are less intelligent than Westerners.<ref name="thetimes2007">{{Cite news| url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/the-elementary-dna-of-dr-watson-gllb6w2vpdr | location=London | work=The Times | title=The elementary DNA of Dr Watson | first=Charlotte | last=Hunt-Grubbe | date=October 14, 2007}}</ref><ref name="Africans">{{cite news|last=Milmo|first=Cahal|title=Fury at DNA pioneer's theory: Africans are less intelligent than Westerners|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fury-at-dna-pioneers-theory-africans-are-less-intelligent-than-westerners-394898.html|access-date=July 9, 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=October 17, 2013|location=London}}</ref><ref name=Suspension>{{cite news|last=Peck|first=Sally|title=James Watson suspended over racism claims|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1566699/James-Watson-suspended-over-racism-claims.html|access-date=December 5, 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=October 17, 2007|location=London}}</ref> Watson said his intention was to promote science, not racism, but some UK venues canceled his appearances,<ref name="Museum Drop">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7050020.stm "Museum drops race row scientist"]. ''BBC News''. October 18, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2007.</ref> and he canceled the rest of his tour.<ref name="Syal">Syal, Rajeev (October 19, 2007). [https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/nobel-scientist-who-sparked-race-row-says-sorry-i-didnt-mean-it-5v3sl08f23k "Nobel scientist who sparked race row says sorry — I didn't mean it"], ''The Times''. Retrieved May 11, 2022.</ref><ref name="IHT">"Watson Returns to USA after race row", ''International Herald Tribune'', October 19, 2007.<!-- Access date removed - meaningless without a URL --></ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watson |first=James |date=September–October 2007 |title='Blinded by Science'. An exclusive excerpt from Watson's new memoir, ''Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science'' |journal=02138 Magazine |page=102 |url=http://www.02138mag.com/magazine/article/1488-3.html |access-date=November 28, 2007 |quote=As we find the human genes whose malfunctioning gives rise to such devastating developmental failures, we may well discover that sequence differences within many of them also lead to much of the observable variation in human IQs. A priori, there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our desire to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024075358/http://www.02138mag.com/magazine/article/1488-3.html |archive-date=October 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Jerry A. |last=Coyne |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article3039959.ece |title=The complex James Watson |magazine=[[Times Literary Supplement]] |date=December 12, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615095029/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article3039959.ece |archive-date=2011-06-15}}</ref> An editorial in ''Nature'' said that his remarks were "beyond the pale" but expressed a wish that the tour had not been canceled so that Watson would have had to face his critics in person, encouraging scientific discussion on the matter.<ref name="Nature">[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7165/full/449948a.html "Watson's folly"], ''Nature'', October 24, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2008.</ref> Because of the controversy, the board of trustees at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory suspended Watson's administrative responsibilities.<ref name="Independent">Watson, J. D. [https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/james-watson-to-question-genetic-intelligence-is-not-racism-5328720.html "James Watson: To question genetic intelligence is not racism"], ''The Independent'', October 19, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2007</ref> Watson issued an apology,<ref name="cnn.com">van Marsh, A. [http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/10/18/nobel.apology/index.html "Nobel-winning biologist apologizes for remarks about blacks"], ''CNN'', October 19, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2007.</ref> then retired at the age of 79 from CSHL from what the lab called "nearly 40 years of distinguished service".<ref name=CSHL>{{cite press release | url=http://www.cshl.edu/Archive/dr-james-d-watson-retires-as-chancellor-of-cold-spring-harbor-laboratory | title=Dr. James D. Watson Retires as Chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory | publisher=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory | date=October 25, 2007 | access-date=August 31, 2011 | archive-date=February 27, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227114959/http://www.cshl.edu/Archive/dr-james-d-watson-retires-as-chancellor-of-cold-spring-harbor-laboratory | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=Announcement by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/science/26watpr.html|access-date=December 5, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 25, 2007}}</ref> Watson attributed his retirement to his age and to circumstances that he could never have anticipated or desired.<ref name="cshl.edu">Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. October 18, 2007. [http://www.cshl.edu/public/releases/07_statement2.html Statement by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Board of Trustees and President Bruce Stillman, PhD Regarding Dr. Watson's Comments in The Sunday Times on October 14, 2007]. Press release. Retrieved October 24, 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100910182221/http://www.cshl.edu/public/releases/07_statement2.html |date=September 10, 2010}}</ref><ref name="LATimes">Wigglesworth, K. (October 26, 2007). [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-26-sci-watson26-story.html "DNA pioneer quits after race comments"]. ''The Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved December 5, 2007</ref><ref name="Resign">[http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/25/watson.resigns/index.html "Nobel prize-winning biologist resigns"], ''CNN'', October 25, 2007. Retrieved on October 25, 2007.</ref>

In 2008, Watson was appointed chancellor emeritus of CSHL<ref name="CSHL bio">{{cite web|url=http://library.cshl.edu/personal-collections/james-d-watson|publisher=cshl.edu |year=2013 |access-date=June 12, 2013 |title=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory James D. Watson |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524143755/http://www.cshl.edu/gradschool/Non-Research-Faculty/james-d-watson |archive-date=May 24, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cshl.edu/About-Us/History/|title=CSHLHistory – About Us|author=WebServices|access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref> but continued to advise and guide project work at the laboratory.<ref name=2009_back /> In a BBC documentary that year, Watson said he did not see himself as a racist.<ref name=bbcdoc>[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1424386236177531815#28m0s Video: BBC 2 Horizon: The President's Guide to Science] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531191720/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1424386236177531815#28m0s |date=May 31, 2010}}, September 16, 2008, see 28:00 to 34:00 mark</ref>

In January 2019, following the broadcast of a television documentary made the previous year in which he repeated his views about race and genetics, CSHL revoked honorary titles that it had awarded to Watson and cut all remaining ties with him.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.cshl.edu/statement-by-cold-spring-harbor-laboratory-addressing-remarks-by-dr-james-d-watson-in-american-masters-decoding-watson/| publisher=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory| title=Statement by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory addressing remarks by Dr. James D. Watson in 'American Masters: Decoding Watson' | date=January 11, 2019|access-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46856779|title=James Watson: Scientist loses titles after claims over race|date=January 13, 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=January 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113184300/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46856779|archive-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/science/watson-dna-genetics.html|title=Lab Severs Ties With James Watson, Citing 'Unsubstantiated and Reckless' Remarks|last=Harmon|first=Amy|date=January 11, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 12, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Watson did not respond to the developments.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Durkin |first1=Erin |title=DNA scientist James Watson stripped of honors over views on race |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/13/james-watson-scientist-honors-stripped-reprehensible-race-comments |work=The Guardian |date=January 13, 2019}}</ref>