Conversations with Laureates
Born on April 6, 1928 in Chicago, IL
Married to Elizabeth Lewis in 1968
Education
1947 B.S. in Zoology, University of Chicago
1950 PhD, Indiana University (advisor was Salvador Luria)
Postdoctoral fellowship, Copenhagen (Merck Fellowship from the National Research Council to study nucleic acids at the lab of Herman Kalckar)
National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis Fellowship at the University of Cambridge, England
Dr. Watson holds honorary degrees from 22 universities including Harvard University, Cambridge University, and the University of Chicago. He has served as Consultant to the President's Scientific Advisory Committee.
Brief Chronology of Employment
1953 - 1955 Senior Research Fellow in Biology, California Institute of Technology
1956 - 1976 Harvard University Faculty
1968 - 1993 Director, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
1988 - 1992 First Director of the National Center for Human Genome Research, NIH.
1994 - 2003 President, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Important People Oswald T. Avery—Bacteriologist from The Rockefeller University who discovered that bacterial DNA was the hereditary material in bacterial genes, proving that DNA is the genetic material responsible for heredity.
David Baltimore—Former President of Caltech, awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1975, along with Howard Temin and Renato Dulbecco, for discovering how certain cancer-causing viruses affect genes. He has been influential in the area of recombinant DNA, and his work has had a profound effect on understanding HIV.
Seymour Benzer—Caltech professor and winner of the National Medal of Science; a physicist in the 1940s, a molecular biologist since the 1950s, and one of the first to study the connection between genes and behavior.
Paul Berg—Winner of 1980 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger for his work on the biochemistry of nucleic acid, especially recombinant DNA.
Sir Lawrence Bragg (1890-1971) —Succeeded Rutherford's chair at Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University and took over crystallography.
Torbjörn Caspersson—Watson had planned to work at Caspersson's laboratory at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Copenhagen in 1950, but he never did so. Caspersson's specialty was instrumentation, and he pioneered the use of the ultraviolet microscope to study nucleic acids in cells.
Erwin Chargaff—A Columbia University chemist who, in 1949, discovered a pattern in the amounts of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine (A=T and G=C). This discovery later became Chargaff's Rule and was instrumental to Watson and Crick's discovery of the structure of DNA.
Martha Chase—Responsible, along with Alfred Hershey, for the 1952 experiment that connected DNA and heredity.
Francis Collins—Current director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at NIH. In 1989, his research team identified the gene for cystic fibrosis.
Francis Crick (1916-2004)—Co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, and winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Friend and collaborator of James Watson. Authored "Of Molecules and Men."
Max Delbrück (1906-1981)—Crucial part of the "Phage Group." Idolized by Watson because of his role in "What Is Life?" Winner of the 1969 Nobel Prize for Medicine, along with Salvador Luria and Alfred Hershey, for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structures of viruses. Among other things, in 1939, he discovered a simple process for growing bacteriophages, and in 1946, that genetic material from different viruses can combine to produce a third virus.
Renato Dulbecco—Worked side-by-side with Watson in the late 1940s in the "Phage Group." Winner of 1975 Nobel Prize in Medicine with David Baltimore and Howard Temin for discovering how certain cancer-causing viruses affect genes. Currently at the Salk Institute, working towards understanding breast cancer.
Judah Folkman (1933-2008)—Pioneered two drugs, angiostatin and endostatin. Folkman claimed that these drugs could achieve complete regression of malignant tumors in mice by cutting off the blood supply.
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958)—Biophysicist who produced the all-important photograph of DNA in 1952, proving its double helix structure. Sadly, she died before the Nobel Prize was awarded. (The Nobel Prize is never given posthumously.)
George Gamow—Physicist who developed the "Big Bang" theory and invented the liquid drop model of the nucleus. He became interested in genetics in the 1950s and sent Crick and Watson a letter outlining a mathematical code connecting the 20 amino acids and the structure of DNA. Although his idea was never proven, it stimulated the eventual success of Nirenberg and Matthaei in deciphering the human genetic code. He was author of the popular Tompkins Series. He started the RNA Tie Club.
Walter Gilbert—Received the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Paul Berg and Frederick Sanger, for the development of methods used to diagram the structure and function of DNA.
Bernadine Healy—Appointed by George Bush in 1991 to run NIH, she was an antagonist to James Watson.
Alfred Hershey—Discovered in 1946 that DNA from different viruses can combine to produce a third virus. In 1952, he and Martha Chase discovered that during infection, a phage transfers only DNA, and the protein remains outside the cell. In 1969, he won the 1969 Nobel Prize for Medicine with Salvador Luria and Max Delbrück, for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structures of viruses.
Mahlon Hoagland—His work led to the discovery of transfer RNA, proving Crick's proposal.
Dorothy Hodgkin—English biochemist who took the first X-ray diffraction photograph.
Robert Hutchins—He instigated revolutionary ideas in education—specifically, allowing students to enter college two years early. He was an inspiration to Watson in his college years.
Hugh Huxley—One of Max Perutz's group of molecular biologists at Cavendish Laboratory in the early 1950s. Winner of The Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1997.
François Jacob—Biologist who won the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Andre Lwoff and Jacques Monod, for their discovery of the genetic control of he production of proteins and enzymes.
Herman Kalckar—Biochemist who took Delbrück's first phage course at Cold Spring Harbor. Watson studied nucleic acids in his lab in 1950, in Copenhagen.
John Kendrew (1917-1997)—One of Max Perutz's group at Cavendish Laboratory in the early 1950s. Winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, along with Max Perutz.
Arthur Kornberg—Physician who synthesized DNA in 1957, and a biologically active form in 1967. Received the Nobel Prize in 1959, along with Severo Ochoa, for discovering the biological mechanisms of RNA and DNA synthesis.
Salvador Luria—Head of the "Phage Group" at Indiana University in the 1940s and 1950s. Teacher and mentor to Watson. Winner of Nobel Prize in 1969 in Physiology or Medicine, with Max Delbrück and Alfred Hershey, for discoveries related to replication and genetic structure of viruses.
Andre Lwoff—Biologist from the Institut Pasteur who won the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with François Jacob and Jacques Monod, for their discovery of the genetic control of the production of proteins and enzymes
David Mahoney—Endowed the Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute (HMNI), which studies problems of the brain including Alzheimer's disease, depression and addiction. In the year 2000, posthumously awarded the first Mary Woodard Lasker Leadership in Philanthropy Award for his support of brain research.
Jacques Monod—Won the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with François Jacob and Andre Lwoff, for their discovery of the genetic control of the production of proteins and enzymes.
Thomas Hunt Morgan—Won the Nobel in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for his discoveries on the role of chromosomes in heredity.
Marshall Nirenberg—Cracked the genetic code in 1964. Won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968, along with Gobind Khorana and Robert Holley, "for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis."
Severo Ochoa (1905-1993)—Won the 1959 Nobel in Medicine, with Arthur Kornberg, for their discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of RNA and DNA.
Linus Pauling (1901-1994)—Author of "The Nature of the Chemical Bond, and Structure of Molecules and Crystals," given to Watson by Francis Crick for Christmas in 1951. The book was of great significance in Watson's study of chemistry. Watson considered Pauling his primary competition in the race to discover the structure of DNA.
Max Perutz—Head of the MRC (Medical Research Council) Unit for Molecular Biology at Cavendish Laboratory when Watson visited in the early 1950s. Perutz won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with John Kendrew.
Alexander Rich—Worked with Linus Pauling as a research fellow at Caltech in the early 1950s. He won the National Medal of Science in 1995.
Frederick Sanger—Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1958 for his work on the structure of insulin. Winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Walter Gilbert for their contribution to the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids.
Erwin Schrödinger—Physicist whose work "What Is Life?" polarized Watson toward finding the answer to the gene. The book, famous in the scientific community, proposed that DNA is the "information carrier" and key to understanding heredity.
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893-1986)—Biochemist, first to isolate vitamin C. He received the 1937 Nobel Prize for this discovery. Watson wrote the beginning of The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA while staying at Szent-Gyorgyi's home.
Wendell M. Stanley—Biochemist who crystallized a tobacco mosaic virus.
Howard Temin—Winner of 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with David Baltimore and Renato Dulbecco, for discovering how certain cancer-causing viruses affect genes.
Alexander Todd—Sir Alexander Robertus Todd was professor of Organic Chemistry at Cambridge. His demonstration that nucleic acids contain sugar and phosphate groups was instrumental in Watson's and Crick's discovery of the structure of DNA. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1957.
Elizabeth Watson—Wife of James Watson. Authored Houses for Science: A Pictorial History of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Edward O. Wilson—Ecologist and field biologist, he was at Harvard at the same time as Watson. Wilson won the National Medal of Science and the Pulitzer Prize in literature. He is the author of many books, including "Naturalist."
Sewall Wright—Geneticist at the University of Chicago, where Watson was inspired by his class on population genetics.
Important Places
Cavendish Laboratory—The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at Cambridge University in Cambridge England. It was here in 1953 that Watson and Crick made their discovery. During Watson's time the lab was financed by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and has since turned into the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory—CSHL was started in New York in 1890 as a meeting ground for scientists, and has had a recurring role in the life of James Watson. He spent his summers there in the early 1950s with Delbrück and Luria and their "Phage Group." The first public presentation of Watson's and Crick's Nature article was given at CSHL in 1953. In 1968, Watson became the director of CSHL and helped to develop it into one of the foremost cancer research facilities in the world. Most of our understanding of oncogenes and the molecular basis of cancer emerged from this lab. Watson served as president of CSHL from 1994 to 2003.
Marine Biology Laboratory—Located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it is referred to in the scientific community as the "boot camp for biologists." The founders of molecular biology often spent their summers together at this world-renowned laboratory. Watson later returned there to teach a course, which he remembers as being a grueling endeavor.
Molteno Institute—Founded in 1921, the Molteno Institute is part of the University of Cambridge. In the early 1950s, because the Cavendish Lab did not have the biochemical facilities that Perutz's group needed, "the protein chemistry was done at Keilin's Molteno Institute and the x-ray work at the Cavendish." The Molteno Institute was incorporated into the University Department of Pathology in 1987.
University of Chicago—The University of Chicago homepage has information about its departments and schools, distinguished faculty and alumni, and links to the University of Chicago Press and other Chicago area sites for students and visitors.
The Rockefeller University—Founded in 1901 in New York, New York, formerly the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. It was here, in 1944, that Oswald Avery discovered that DNA transmits hereditary information.
King's College—Founded in 1829 in London, it is where Rosalind Franklin took the X-ray diffraction photographs of the DNA molecule.
Karolinska Institute—Located in Stockholm, Sweden, the Institute was appointed by Alfred Nobel, in 1895, to decide who would be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute—Founded by David Mahoney and his wife, Hildegard, in 1990 to support public awareness and careers in neuroscience. Newsletter:
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)—A segment of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), its mission is to head the Human Genome Project for the NIH.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center—The Center provides information for professionals, including basic and clinical research conducted at MSKCC, and links to the Department of Graduate Medical Education and the online medical library. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center also has information on the site for patients including links to clinical trials, a physician referral service, and education and outreach programs.
National Cancer Institute—One of the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute provides cancer resources for patients and professionals, including information on cancer types and statistics, treatment options, clinical trials, and publications. The NCI site also has links to funding and grant opportunities, information on research and reagents, and news and technology for professionals.
Cancer Research Institute—The Cancer Research Institute has been studying cancer and the immune system since 1953, and provides information for the general public, patients, and immunologists and scientists interested in fellowships, grants, or Institute symposia.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute—An affiliate of the Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber provides information and resources for patients, including a glossary, prevention, detection and statistical information, and links to related sites. The site also has information on the Institute's research and clinical trials, news, and a link to the Office of Technology Transfer.
Important Occurrences
1939, Linus Pauling—Watson and Crick are engaged in a close race with revered scientist, Linus Pauling, to determine the structure of DNA.
1946, What is Life?—According to Watson, studying phage replication was essentially watching "naked genes in action."
1947, The Phage Group—Camaraderie and scientific openness are perfectly illustrated in the workings of the Phage Group, which advanced the understanding of genetic replication by studying bacterial viruses, or bacteriophages.
1953, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, England—The environment at Cavendish Laboratory fosters spectacular scientific achievements, including Watson and Crick's famous discovery.
1954, The RNA Tie Club—A refreshing dose of humor is mixed with serious scientific pursuit, with the creation of the exclusive RNA Tie Club.
1956, Watson at Harvard University—Though admittedly not well suited to Harvard's "polite society," James Watson's presence as a professor there will never be forgotten.
1968, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory—Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, now a world-renowned research and educational institution, holds special significance for Dr. James Watson.
1968, Elizabeth Watson—Elizabeth Watson works to restore the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory campus to the beauty and ambiance her husband so fondly remembers from his early experiences there.
1975, Asilomar Conference—As recombinant DNA technology emerges and controversy arises over its potential misuse, Watson urges science policy makers to consider the bigger picture.
1988, NIH/Human Genome Project—The first director of the public effort to determine the entire human genetic sequence, Watson launches the Human Genome Project into high gear.
Linus Pauling and The Race
"The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas." — Linus Pauling, The Nature of the Chemical Bond
In 1948, Pauling discovered that many proteins have an alpha-helix structure, and he was the odds-on favorite for winning the race for the structure of DNA. But he proposed a structure for DNA that was clearly wrong—for one thing, failing to consider "Chargaff's Rule" of base pairing.
"Now he had a real opportunity, because on the boat that took the Paulings back to the United States [was] Chargaff. They were on the same boat. But Pauling took an intense dislike to Chargaff and didn't talk to him. So again, you know, I was saved by Chargaff's personality." —Watson, 1999 lecture
In spite of Pauling's setback, it was he that Watson and Crick were worried about. The only other possible contenders in the race were Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin.
"So Francis and I weren't unhappy…there was a slight fear—and that fear came from the fact that Wilkins had said that Pauling had written him for a copy of the X-ray photograph. And that meant Pauling was interested." —Watson, 1999 lecture
"…on the whole, I never got the impression that the phage group thought that Pauling's world and theirs would soon have anything in common. Occasionally I would see Pauling drive up in his Riley, and I felt very good when once he spontaneously smiled at me in the Faculty Club." —Watson referring to the summer of 1950 at Caltech, from Passion for DNA
As it turned out, Pauling showed genuine pleasure upon hearing of Watson's and Crick's successful discovery. "Pauling visited or came to Cambridge…about the sixteenth of April, just before the manuscript was published, saw it and essentially conceded. It was the only time in his life that he ever conceded he was wrong." —Watson, 1999 lecture
What Is Life? by Erwin Schrödinger
"Now as a species we are developing, and we march in the frontline of generations; thus every day of a man's life represents a small bit of the evolution of our species, which is still in full swing. It is true that a single day of one's life, nay even any individual life as a whole, is but a minute blow of the chisel at the ever unfinished statue." —Erwin Schrödinger, What Is Life?
Watson read Schrödinger's book What is Life? at the age of 17, and credits it as a major influence in his decision to study genetics instead of zoology. The book propelled Watson and many other scientists toward the nascent field of molecular biology.
"I became polarized towards finding out the secret of the gene." —Watson quote from The Eighth Day of Creation, by Horace Freeland Judson
Based on physicist Max Delbrück's theory on the physical basis of biological phenomena, What Is Life? made a profound impact in the history of science by advancing the notion that the gene was the problem to solve. The importance of Schrödinger's work is illustrated by Watson's desire to write a successor, which he wished to name "This is Life," instead producing a textbook titled, The Molecular Biology of the Gene.
The chromosome structures are at the same time instrumental in bringing about the development they foreshadow. They are law-code and executive power—or, to use another simile, they are architect's plan and builder's craft–in one." —Erwin Schrödinger, What is Life?
The Phage Group
Watson was invited to join the "Phage Group," begun in 1943 by Salvador Luria and Max Delbrück as a way to bring together like-minded scientists interested in bacterial viruses known as bacteriophage, or simply "phage." According to Watson, studying phage replication was essentially watching "naked genes in action." (Watson, Passion for DNA).
The Phage Group met during summers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and included Alfred Hershey, a central figure in the group, as well as James Watson and Renato Dulbecco. "…the first principle [of the Phage Group] had to be openness. That you tell each other what you are doing and thinking. And that you don't care who has the priority." —Max Delbrück in The Eighth Day of Creation by Horace Freeland Judson
Watson worked directly under Luria, his doctoral advisor at Indiana University, who was 17 years his senior and treated him like a son. Because of Luria's reputation for being impolite and arrogant, he had only one student at the time—an idyllic situation for Watson. Their admiration was mutual.
"What struck me from the beginning…he is a person who looks completely disheveled all the time, a mess—except in things that mattered. I have never known anybody whose notebooks, for example, were so perfect, as Jim's notebooks…Jim makes the very great distinction. If something is not worth doing, it is not worth doing well." —Salvador Luria speaking of Watson in The Eighth Day of Creation
Discovery at Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, England
"The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them"—Sir Lawrence Bragg
Even before Watson's and Crick's Earth-shattering discovery, the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England was world famous for its scientific breakthroughs. Headed by Sir Lawrence Bragg, the Laboratory was the site of J.J. Thomson's discovery of the electron and Ernest Lord Rutherford's work in nuclear physics.
Watson learned early on the importance of surrounding oneself with intelligent people. Speaking of his experience at Cavendish, for example he once said,
"It was rather a thrill knowing you're five or ten years younger than the other people, just keeping up with them. It was fun—they would call me by my first name or something so I was lucky I got into sciences at such a young age. But also I had the advantage that I needn't be in a hurry. I was younger than other people so, actually, I didn't have to produce." —From an interview with Dr. James Watson at a 1992 symposium, "Winding Your Way through DNA," at the University of California San Francisco.
It has been said that networking within the research community separates the vast majority of scientists by only a small number of people, perhaps only five or six (as in the play, Six Degrees of Separation). Nowhere was this more apparent than in the 1950s, when the great thinkers—and founders of the gene business—from the labs at Cavendish, Cold Spring Harbor, Woods Hole, The Institut Pasteur, and Caltech planned their summers together in Woods Hole or Cold Spring Harbor, remaining in close contact for the rest of the year.
"Science is to see what everyone else has seen but think what no one else has thought." —Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
RNA Tie Club
"RNA first came alive to me during the fall of 1947 at Indiana University when I took Salvador Luria's course on viruses…Apparently a given virus had either RNA or DNA in contrast to cells, which contained both." —Watson in a 1993 piece, "Early Speculations and Facts about RNA Templates," Passion for DNA
Started by George Gamow in 1954, the RNA Tie Club was an informal group of scientists working to "solve the riddle of RNA structure, and to understand the way it builds proteins." The camaraderie among the members was characteristic of the early days of molecular biology, fostering discussion of untested ideas that were not ready for formal publication.
"When I was young, at least in what I did, there were a relatively small number of people. You knew them, you knew what people were doing." —Watson, interview at Cold Spring Harbor, February 1, 2001
Each member of the Tie Club was to receive a specially designed tie representing the chemical structure of RNA, and a 3-letter pin with an abbreviation of one of the 20 amino acids. In their correspondence, members were often referred to by their amino acid "nicknames"—e.g., PRO (proline) for Watson, Ala (alanine) for George Gamow.
"…it never had a formal meeting. Nor did all its members ever cough up the money to purchase their RNA ties and tie pins bearing their respective amino acid code letters…Much more important in the long run was the opportunity it provided to exchange ideas about the code through 'notes to the RNA Tie Club.'" Watson, Passion for DNA.
The RNA Tie Club letter contained the slogan, "Do or die, or don't try." Club officers were Gamow as "Synthesizer," Watson as "Optimist," and Francis Crick as "Pessimist." —The Eighth Day of Creation by Horace Freeland Judson
Watson at Harvard: 1956 to 1976
Watson was a member of the Harvard faculty from 1956 to 1976, having already earned recognition for his part in elucidating the structure of DNA, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine during his tenure there in 1962.
"Students in his class wrote in big block letters on the blackboard: 'Dr. Watson has just won the Nobel Prize!' Classes were informal, as the day became one of celebration with champagne toasts. 'The whole day was essentially wasted,' said one of the scientists working in Watson's Harvard laboratory, adding, 'but joyfully.'" —From DNA Pioneer, by Joyce Baldwin
Watson has often said that the atmosphere at Harvard was too "polite" for him, unapologetically acknowledging that he didn't fit in. "I think one of my advantages is that I wasn't brought up to be polite… And you could say well, 'Why not good manners?' but sometimes good manners doesn't work…"—James Watson, in an interview at Cold Spring Harbor, February 1, 2001
It was while at Harvard that Watson encountered E.O. Wilson for the first time. Wilson was a promising young biologist at the time, but not a molecular biologist, and therefore of little use to Watson. Wilson went on to become highly respected in field biology and ecology, never forgetting the "cold shoulder" he received from the revered geneticist. Wilson characterized Watson as both his enemy and hero: "When he was a young man in the 1950s and 1960s, I found him the most unpleasant human being I had ever met." —E.O. Wilson, Naturalist.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
"I am fond of the place. It has always for me stood for good science… Cold Spring Harbor has always had very high standards, and the thought that you might lose an institution with very high standards…" —James Watson quote from The Eighth Day of Creation
Watson became director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1968, revitalizing the financially endangered institution and broadening its research focus to include the study of cancer, particularly cancer-causing DNA tumor viruses, and neuroscience.
"I think during the summers, it is the most interesting place in the world, if you're interested in biology." —James Watson quote from The Eighth Day of Creation
James Watson first encountered Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the summer of 1948, during an era when it had become an informal meeting place for like-minded scientists, and the setting for an annual symposium, which attracted researchers from all over the world.
"As the summer passed on, I liked Cold Spring Harbor more and more, both for its intrinsic beauty and for the honest ways in which good and bad science got sorted out." —James Watson quote in The Eighth Day of Creation.
Today, the emphasis on education in the biological sciences encompasses all levels at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Its DNA Learning Center targets primary and secondary school students, undergraduate programs work in concert with the State University of New York, and The Watson School of Biological Sciences now offers an accredited Ph.D. program.
"There remains nothing more important than understanding life." —James Watson, while president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Elizabeth Watson: The First Lady of Houses for Science
Elizabeth Watson's passion for the history and preservation of the buildings at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory mirrored her husband's drive, which transformed the institution into the dynamic and financially sound "scientific village" it is today.
For James Watson, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the 1940s had been the site of memorable summers filled with lively scientific debate in a beautiful, casual setting. His love of the place was contagious, and when he returned more than 20 years later to serve as its director, his young wife, Elizabeth, embraced the idea of recapturing the ambiance of days before.
Elizabeth first became interested in architecture during these early years of her marriage, indulging her budding passion for the subject by auditing courses at Harvard where her Nobel laureate husband was a professor at the time.
With a sense of humor, she characterizes her love of buildings and their preservation: "Yes… I love buildings. I have an 'edifice complex.' In order to really love buildings though, you have to be able to read them…."—Elizabeth Watson, 2001
The restoration project at Cold Spring Harbor spanned approximately 11 years. Elizabeth was instrumental in that effort, and in assuring the institution's continued preservation through its listing with the National Register of Historic Places. She has written a book called Houses for Science. A Pictorial History of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
The renewed physical beauty of the buildings of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the spark of a new scientific mission, and a shared vision of the promise of research stand as a symbol of the Watsons' special partnership and synchrony, palpable to those around them.
"He has been the love of my life since I was 17 years old. I know him better than most anybody in the world…he is my life." —Elizabeth Watson speaking of her husband, James, 2001.
Watson on Recombinant DNA
"You have to assume in life, that people are more good-willed than bad-willed...We knew if we used it [recombinant DNA technology], we could really set science ahead." — Watson in a June 2000 NPR interview, in response to a question about the fears raised over genetic engineering
As exciting as Watson's and Crick's determination of DNA's structure was back in 1953, no one, not even the two scientists themselves, could have predicted where this watershed moment would lead. In fact, they dismissed any notion they might have had at that time of applying for a patent because of a lack of obvious practical implications. But in the early 1970s, development of recombinant DNA techniques heralded the birth of genetic engineering, and an era that has been characterized by both excitement and controversy ever since.
Dr. Watson doubts the conventional wisdom that the solution to fears of misuse of DNA technology could be found in regulation, since the risks were not "quantifiable," a pre-requisite in his view, for any meaningful response. "How could we react to a situation where we could not even guess the size of our potential opponent? As far as I was concerned, everyone might as well go home. That response generated stony silence, and I was soon the meeting's outcast." —Watson lecture in 1978, referring to the Asilomar conference
The potential for lost opportunities—of discovering the molecular mechanisms that lead to cancer, for example—worries Dr. Watson much more than the unproven notion that harm might result from delving into the mysterious world of human DNA. "Countless tons of human DNA daily already get spread about without our recombinant DNA technology, but this is not polite conversation. So laboratory rearrangements of human DNA are banned while normal and abnormal sex go on their uncontrollable ways...Our problem is not recombinant DNA, it is ourselves." —Watson in his 1978 lecture, "In Further Defense of DNA" appearing in his book A Passion for DNA.
NIH/Human Genome Project
"Even many of our firmest supporters will worry at times that we may be moving too fast in assuming the roles that in the past we have assigned to the gods...Thus, in so moving through genetics to what we hope will be better times for human life, we must proceed with caution and humility." —Watson, in a 1994 piece on the ethical considerations of the Human Genome Project in Passion for DNA
Watson's and Crick's revelation of the structure of DNA paved the way for discoveries of the mechanism of gene replication, eventually leading to a proposal by Harvard's Dr. Walter Gilbert to decode the entire human genome. The US Department of Energy joined the effort, hoping that the findings would elucidate whether or not the genome could be protected from radiation-induced mutations.
"Until the decision was made to go for the whole human genome, the majority of families suffering from genetic diseases would have no reason to hope for release from the pains inflicted upon them by past errors in the copying of their family's genetic messages." —Watson in Passion for DNA
In 1988, Watson became the founding director of NIH's National Center for Human Genome Research (now known as The National Human Genome Research). His blend of forward-looking vision, willingness to grapple with the complex ethical implications of the project, and tireless promotion efforts launched the project into high gear. "There were probably two objectives. You understand life and you will understand disease… until you understand life you can't understand disease. Well, they go together. Like in cancer, you couldn't understand the cancer cell until you knew the normal cell." —Watson, on the goals of the Human Genome Project, February 1, 2001 interview at Cold Spring Harbor
Watson strongly opposed the idea of patenting gene fragments, a concept advocated by then NIH director Dr. Bernadine Healy, fearing that it would discourage research, and commented that "the automated sequencing machines 'could be run by monkeys.'" (Nature, June 29, 2000) Watson resigned his NIH post in 1992 to devote his full-time effort to directing Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Honors
John Collins Warren Prize, Massachusetts General Hospital, 1959
Eli Lilly Award in Biochemistry, 1960
Albert Lasker Award, 1960
Nobel Prize, Physiology or Medicine, with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, 1962
Elected to National Academy of Sciences, 1962
The Research Corporation Prize, 1962
The John J. Carty Gold Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, 1971
Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1977
Elected member of United Kingdom's Royal Society, 1981
Royal Society's Copley Medal, 1993
The Charles A. Dana Distinguished Achievement Award in Health, 1994
Lomonosov Medal, Russian Academy of Sciences, 1995
National Medal of Science, 1997
Published Work
A Passion for DNA—Genes, Genomes, and Society, 1st Edition. James D. Watson. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2000.
Molecular Biology of the Gene, 4th Edition. James D.Watson; Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1997.
Recombinant DNA. 2nd Edition. James D. Watson et al; W.H. Freeman & Co., 1992.
The Double Helix—A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. James D. Watson.
The DNA Story—A Documentary Story of Gene Cloning. James D. Watson; W.H. Freeman & Co., Out of Print.
Other References
A Look at the Work of Frontline Scientists and How They Are Changing Medicine. Johns Hopkins University Press, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 2000
Who Wrote the Book of Life? A History of the Genetic Code by Lily Kay; Stanford University Press, 2000
The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology by Horace Freeland Judson; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; revised and expanded edition, 1996
A Century of DNA: A History of the Discovery of the Structure and Function of the Genetic Substance by Franklin Portugal
French, John E., Spalding, Judson W, Tennant, Raymond W., "Identifying Chemical Carcinogenicity and Assessing Potential Risk in Short Term Bioassays Using Transgenic Mouse Models"; Environmental Health Perspective, Journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Vol. 103, #10: Oct.1995.