Editing J. B. S. Haldane (section)

=== Later life and death ===
In the autumn of 1963, Haldane visited the US for a series of scientific conferences. At the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin]], [[Sewall Wright]] introduced him before his speech, noting many of Haldane's achievements, after which Haldane modestly remarked that the introduction would have been more accurate if all the references to "Haldane" were replaced with "Wright".<ref name=":3" /> In Florida, he met, for the first and only time, the Russian biochemist [[Alexander Oparin]], who had developed an [[primordial soup|origin of life theory]] quite independent of his own in the 1920s. It was while there that he started feeling abdominal pains.<ref name=":8" />

Haldane went to London for a diagnosis. He was found to have [[colorectal cancer]], and had a surgery in February 1964. Around that time Philip Dally was making a BBC documentary about eminent living scientists, which included Sewall Wright and the double Nobel laureate [[Linus Pauling]]. Dally's team approached Haldane at the hospital for the documentary profile, but instead of a filmed interview, Haldane gave them a self-obituary,<ref name=":13">{{Cite news|last=Sear|first=Richard|date=2 December 1964|title=Obituary on TV — by man who died|page=1|work=Daily Mirror|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19641202/001/0001|access-date=12 September 2021}}</ref> the opening lines of which run:<blockquote>I am going to begin with a boast. I believe that I am one of the [originally as "I am the most"] most influential people living today, although I haven't got a scrap of power. Let me explain. In 1932 I was the first person to estimate the rate of mutation of a human gene.<ref name=":8" /></blockquote>He also wrote a comic poem while in the hospital, mocking his own incurable disease. It was read by his friends, who appreciated the consistent irreverence with which Haldane had lived his life. The poem first appeared in print on 21 February 1964 issue of the ''[[New Statesman]]'', and runs:<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Dronamraju |first1 = K. |title = J. B. S. Haldane's last years: his life and work in India (1957–1964) |journal = Genetics |year = 2010 |volume = 185 |issue = 1 |pages = 5–10 |doi = 10.1534/genetics.110.116632 |pmid = 20516291 |pmc = 2870975 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1 = Hesketh |first1 = Robin |title = Betrayed by Nature: The War on Cancer |year = 2012 |publisher = Palgrave Macmillan |location = New York (US) |isbn=978-0-230-34192-0 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/betrayedbynature0000hesk/page/237 237]–238 |url=https://archive.org/details/betrayedbynature0000hesk |url-access = registration |df = dmy-all }}</ref>

{{poemquote|
''Cancer's a Funny Thing'':
I wish I had the voice of Homer
To sing of rectal carcinoma,
This kills a lot more chaps, in fact,
Than were bumped off when Troy was sacked&nbsp;...}}
The poem ends:
{{poemquote|
...&nbsp;I know that cancer often kills,
But so do cars and sleeping pills;
And it can hurt one till one sweats,
So can bad teeth and unpaid debts.
A spot of laughter, I am sure,
Often accelerates one's cure;
So let us patients do our bit
To help the surgeons make us fit.}}

He willed that his body be used for medical research and instruction at the [[Rangaraya Medical College]], [[Kakinada]].<ref name=vigyan /><ref name=":14">{{Cite web |last=Nayeem |first=K. Javeed |date=2022-11-20 |title=J.B.S. Haldane: Distinguished yet Disillusioned! |url=https://starofmysore.com/j-b-s-haldane-distinguished-yet-disillusioned/ |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Star of Mysore |language=en-US}}</ref> 
[[File:Haldane Museum.jpg|thumb|Haldane Museum Located in Rangaraya Medical College]]
{{blockquote |quote = My body has been used for both purposes during my lifetime and after my death, whether I continue to exist or not, I shall have no further use for it, and desire that it shall be used by others. Its refrigeration, if this is possible, should be a first charge on my estate.<ref>{{cite book |last = Murty |first = K. Krishna |title = Spice in science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jXaqNB2V6RcC |access-date = 1 February 2011 |year = 2005 |publisher = Pustak Mahal |location = Delhi |isbn=978-81-223-0900-3 |page = 68 |url-status = live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921142110/http://books.google.com/books?id=jXaqNB2V6RcC |archive-date = 21 September 2014 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>}}His surgery in London was declared successful. But the symptoms reappeared after returning to India in June, and in August, the Indian doctors confirmed that his condition was terminal. Writing to [[John Maynard Smith]] on 7 September, he said, "I am not appreciably upset by the prospect of dying fairly soon. But I am very angry [at the English doctor who performed the operation]."<ref name=":8" />

He died on 1 December 1964 in [[Bhubaneswar]]. On that day the BBC broadcast his self-obituary as "Professor J.B.S. Haldane, obituary."<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Boon|first=Timothy|date=2015|title='The televising of science is a process of television': establishing Horizon, 1962–1967|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25833799|journal=British Journal for the History of Science|volume=48|issue=1|pages=87–121|doi=10.1017/S0007087414000405|jstor=43820569|pmid=25833799|s2cid=206212519}}</ref> Following his will, his body was moved to Kakinada where Vissa Ramachandra Rao performed post-mortem and preservation of his body parts. His skeleton and organs are on display to the public in the Haldane Museum, located in the pathology department of Rangaraya Medical College.<ref name=":14" /><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2021-03-07 |title=Biju Patnaik and JBS Haldane..... {{!}} |url=https://odishabarta.com/biju-patnaik-and-jbs-haldane/ |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=odishabarta |language=en-US}}</ref>