Is james watson alive
ProfessorJamesWatson
Born6th April, (Chicago, United States)
Together with Francis Crick, Watson was co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA. This they accomplished with the help of earlier research by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.
(Photo credit: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Family
The son of American parents with English, Scottish and Irish roots, James Watson was born in Chicago.
One of two children, Watson shared a passion for bird watching with his father, who was a tax-collector. Originally interested in becoming an ornothologist, in he shifted his ambition to studying genetics when he read Erwin Schrodinger's book 'What Is Life?'. In he married Elizabeth Lewis with whom he had two sons, one of whom developed schizophrenia.
His son's disease awakened Watson's interest in understanding the genetics behind the disease.
Education
As a child Watson attended Horace Mann Grammar School and then South Shore High School. When 15 years old he went to the University of Chicago, graduating with a degree in zoology. In Watson began a doctorate in zoology at Indiana University, where he worked on bacteriophages, viruses that invade bacteria in order to reproduce, as part of research to understand the nature of genetic mutation.
Completing his PhD in , Watson then spent a postdoctoral year at Copenhagen University where he continued his study of viruses and started remedying his ignorance of chemistry.
Career
In Watson joined the Medical Research Council Unit at Cavendish Laboratories in Cambridge where several important X-ray crystallographic projects were in progress.
Soon he was collaborating with Francis Crick to unravel the structure of DNA. From he took up several positions at Harvard University and in became director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), helping it become a leading insitution in genetic research. Between and Watson headed the National Center for Human Genome Research at the National Institutes of Health and then returned to CSHL, from which he retired in
Achievements
Watson is most strongly associated with the determination of the structure of DNA as a double helix, which he published with Crick in Awarded a Nobel Prize for this work alongside Crick and Maurice Wilkins, this research opened up a new understanding of biology and genetics, laying the foundation for the development of recombinant DNA which helped spawn the new biotechnology industry in the s.
James watson brief biography of benjamin moore After several failed attempts, more analysis of the X-ray images, and a fortuitous conversation with a biochemist who corrected one of their hypothesized base structures, they developed the correct model. His work at Harvard focused on RNA and its role in the transfer of genetic information. Clough Hermann A. Franklin's letters were framed with the normal and unremarkable forms of address, beginning with "Dear Jim", and concluding with "Best Wishes, Yours, Rosalind".Under his watch Cold Spring Habour Laboratory became a leading research centre, not only helping to uncover the molecular nature of cancer but identify cancer genes for the first time.
James Watson: timeline of key events
Date | Event | People | Places |
---|---|---|---|
6 Apr | James D Watson was born in Chicago, IL, USAWatson | Laboratory of Molecular Biology | |
2 Apr | Nature published Crick and Watson's letter on Molecular Structure of Nucleic AcidsWatson,Crick | Cambridge | |
25 Apr | Nature published three papers showing the molecular structure of DNA to be a double helixFranklin, Gosling, Crick, Watson, Wilkins.James watson brief biography of benjamin Richardson Mario R. Haus James L. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Heilmeier Luna B. Stokes, Wilson | Birkbeck College, Kings College London, Cambridge University | |
18 Oct | Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine awarded for determining the structure of DNAWatson, Crick, Wilkins | Laboratory of Molecular Biology | |
19 Oct | Nobel Prize awarded for uncovering the structure of DNAWatson, Crick, Wilkins, Franklin, Gosling | University of Cambridge, King's College London, Birkbeck College | |
30 Apr | Plans for sequencing human genome first laid outGilbert, Watson, Berg |
6 Apr
James D Watson was born in Chicago, IL, USA
2 Apr
Nature published Crick and Watson's letter on Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids
25 Apr
Nature published three papers showing the molecular structure of DNA to be a double helix
18 Oct
Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine awarded for determining the structure of DNA
19 Oct
Nobel Prize awarded for uncovering the structure of DNA
19 Oct
Plans for sequencing human genome first laid out