, Columnist
James Watson Had a Brilliant Mind and a Broken Moral Compass
A man of stubborn contradictions.
Photographer: Daniel Mordzinski/AFP via Getty Images
By the time James Watson died earlier this month at the age of 97, he was one of the world’s most famous — and infamous — scientists.
In 1953, he and three fellow researchers co-discovered the double-helix structure of DNA — a breakthrough that unlocked the secrets of how life works. The discovery revealed how a molecule could store and copy genetic information, providing a chemical mechanism for heredity, evolution and the immense diversity of life that gave rise to what Charles Darwin famously described as “endless forms most beautiful.”