James-Dewey-Watson Biography

Born April 6th of 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, the American geneticist and biophysicist James-

Dewey-Watson, has been one of the most important scientist, together with his partner Francis Crick, to

have come about with great scientific discovery. DeoxyriboNucleicAcid , or as it is abbreviated DNA,

is one of the most important components of life, its molecular and structural shape discovered to help

find the answers for the always inquired questions. What do genes code for? What is the building block

of a living organism? How does the body know what proteins to make? This is what James D. Watson

was determined and successful at figuring it out.1

Watson's scientific love had begun as early as 15 years of age when he enrolled at the

University of Chicago and graduated from in 1947. Around this age he was sure that virus research and

hereditary traits mysteries could only be thoroughly understood if DNA was better understood. His first

thoughts of creating the visual and molecular structure of DNA came from his knowledge that scientist

from the University of Cambridge had shot X-rays thru protein crystals to better see their structure.

This got Watson even more interested in finding the real shape of DNA. Later in 1951 thru 1953,

Watson joined the Cambridge university in order to make studies of his own on DNA and also . Here is

where he met his other scientific half, a man twelve years older than him who was studying proteins
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structure, Francis Crick.

Over the next two years, James Watson and Francis Crick worked together to create the

structure of DNA and made theories as to what it looked like and its composition. With the research

done on X-ray diffraction photographs by Rosalind Franklin, a scientist from Kings College in London,

both of them had a basis for their research. While doing this, Watson determined that the tobacco virus

was surrounded by a protein coat. Unfortunately, he had not gotten any closer to his DNA research,

until the Spring of 1953. A piece of the puzzle was found, Watson and Crick found that there were four

essential DNA parts, called organic bases, that were matched respectively in pairs. With this
information obtained from Maurice Wilkins, Franklin, and colleagues, James Watson and Francis Crick

published their Noble Prize winning journal “Nature” in April-May of 1953. They received the Nobel

Prize in 1962 and shared it with Maurice Wilkins. 2

Watson and Crick found DNA's shape to be a twisted ladder, that was called the Double Helix,

this would be the last time Watson and Crick would research DNA together. After all the scientific

praise, Watson joined Harvard University to serve as a Biology professor from 1955 to 1976. Here, he

conducted research on nucleic acids' importance in the making of proteins and later published his new

book “Molecular Biology of the Gene” in 1965 and “The Double Helix” in 1968. The book published

in 1965 has been and is used as the base for the modern Biology textbooks we use today. 2

His career since the discovery of DNA became of research and great projects involving DNA

codes. In 1968, Watson left to work at the Laboratory of Quantitative Biology in Cold Spring Harbor

in Long Island, New York. Here he focused his studies to help resolve the origins of cancer. In 1977,

Watson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter for his research.

From 1988 to 1992, James Watson became involved in one of the most important projects, the Human

Genome Project at the National Institute of Health. The Human Genome Project was a research plan

that intended on mapping and deciphering all the genes in the human chromosomes. Unfortunately

Watson later resigned from his position as the director due to work policies conflicts. In early 2007 his
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complete genome was sequenced and was the second person in history to have done so.

In the End Watson remained as a professor in Cold Spring Harbor where he helps other scientist

with their research. He is married to Elizabeth Lewis and has two children, Rufus Robert and Duncan

James. Without all the Research that he has done DNA coding would have not begun. His love for

science at a young age was the beginning of all the accomplishments he earned throughout his life and

career.
 Works Cited

(1) Book

Edelson,Edward. “Francis Crick and James Watson and the Building Blocks of Life.”Oxford. Portraits in Science.

New York: Oxford University Press,1988,Print

(2) Online

"James Dewey Watson." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 23 Sep. 2010

<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/637603/James-Dewey-Watson>.

(3) Online

Thomson, Gale. BookRags "World of Biology on James D. Watson". 2005 World of Biology ©2005-2006. 23 Sep.

2010 <http://www.bookrags.com/biography/james-d-watson-wob/>.