James Watson, DNA double-helix structure co-discoverer, dies at 97

James Watson, who co-discovered the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, has died aged 97.

Born in Chicago in 1928, Watson made this groundbreaking discovery at just 24 years old alongside British physicist Francis Crick. Watson died at a hospice facility following a brief illness, his son confirmed Friday, according to the Associated Press.

“As a scientist, his determination with Francis Crick 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,” Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Watson’s former research institute, said in a statement Friday.

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American biologist James Watson, who shared the Nobel Prize for helping to discover the double helix shape of the DNA molecule, poses for a portrait at an exhibition in Berlin Monday October 11, 2004. (Markus Schreiber/AP Photo)

His death occurred earlier this week on Long Island, the New York Times reported.

Watson, along with scientists Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, won the Nobel Prize in 1962 after discovering the double helix structure of DNA — two intertwined strands resembling a rotating ladder, the Associated Press reported.

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James Watson, left, is pictured next to Francis Crick, right, in 1959. (Getty Images)

“Francis Crick and I made the discovery of the century, it was pretty clear,” Watson said.

The discovery revealed how genetic information is stored and replicated and laid the foundation for modern genetic engineering, treating diseases with genes and DNA identification techniques, according to the Associated Press.

In the years following the discovery, Watson wrote books including “The Double Helix” in 1968 and “Molecular Biology of the Gene” in 1965.

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Russian Academy of Sciences President Vladimir Fortov, right, returns a Nobel Prize medal auctioned to a Russian businessman to U.S. Nobel Prize-winning biologist James Watson at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

However, later in his life he was also widely condemned for his racist comments.

“His remarks about race and IQ in 2008 led the CSHL Board of Directors to remove him from all administrative positions and remove him from appointment as a CSHL administrator,” Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory wrote. “When he made similar statements in 2020, the board revoked his emeritus status and severed all ties with him.”

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Both Crick and Wilkins died in 2004, according to the Associated Press.