Nobel laureate credited with DNA structure discovery leaves behind a chequered legacy

James Watson — the Nobel laureate co-credited with the pivotal discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, but whose career was later tainted by his repeated racist remarks — has died, his former lab said Friday. He was 97.

- Agence France-Presse

The eminent biologist died Thursday in hospice care on Long Island in New York, announced the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was based for much of his career.

Watson became among the 20th century's most storied scientists for his 1953 breakthrough discovery of the double helix with researcher partner Francis Crick.

Along with Crick and Maurice Wilkins, he shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for their work — momentous research that gave rise to modern biology and opened the door to new insights including on genetic code and protein synthesis.

That marked a new era of modern life, allowing for revolutionary technologies in medicine, forensics and genetics ranging from criminal DNA testing or genetically manipulated plants.

Watson went on to do groundbreaking work in cancer research and mapping the human genome. But he later came under fire and bowed out of public view for controversial remarks, including that Africans were not as smart as white people.