Fifty years ago, two unknown molecular biologists at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University had one of the great eureka moments in the history of science: They discovered that DNA is organized in the shape of a double helix—two intertwining strands of nucleotides on a superstructure of sugar. Only 25 years old then, James Watson was a stringy, thin biologist with wavy hair and a desire to be famous. Born in 1928, he graduated from the University of Chicago at age 19 and got his Ph.D. at Indiana University at 22. In 1962 he, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins won the Nobel Prize for their discovery. In the intervening years, Watson has remained a key figure in genetics,serving as the president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island and as the original director of the Human Genome Project. In this spirited interview with author David Ewing Duncan, he reinforces his position as a powerful, independent force in biology.
What are you most proud of?
W: My textbook The Molecular Biology of the Gene and my book The Double Helix.
Not the actual discovery of the double helix?
W: No, because the double helix was going to be found in the next year or two. It was just waiting to be found, and I was the one who finally found it because I was the most obsessed about it.
