James D Watson, The Double Helix of the DNA Molecule

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Jun 12, 2001

of cancer. In 1994. Watson became President of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

In 1988, while continuing his work with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Watson assumed leadership, under the National Institute of Health, of the Human Genome Project, first as Associate Director and then as Director. This sometimes controversial project saw success on June 26, 2000, when the Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics announced "the draft sequence of the human genome was essentially complete." See http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/ for more details about the Human Genome Project.

In 1990, Watson accepted a position as Director of the National Center for Human Genome Research, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. He served in this position until 1992.

In 1994, Watson returned to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as the President. Their web site, http://www.cshl.org , states:

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a research and educational institution. The Laboratory has research programs focusing on cancer, neurobiology, plant genetics, genomics and bioinformatics, and a broad educational mission, including the recently established Watson School of Biological Sciences.

James D Watson, Lifetime Awards

John Collins Warren Prize of the Massachusetts General Hospital, with Crick in 1959
Eli Lilly & Company Award in Biochemistry in 1959
Albert Lasker Award, with Crick and Wilkins in 1960, given by the American Public Health Association
Research Corporation Prize, with Crick in 1961
Nobel Prize in 1962, for Physiology and Medicine, with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins
John J Carty Gold Medal in 1971
membership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1958
Membership of the National Academy of Sciences, 1962
Foreign membership of the Royal Danish Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1962
Membership of American Society of Biological Chemists
Honorary Fellow of Clare College
Honorary Fellow of Cambridge University, England
Honorary Degree from the University of Chicago in 1961
Honorary Degree from Indiana in 1963
Honorary Degree from Notre Dame University in 1963
Honorary Degree from Long Island University in 1970
Honorary Degree from Adelphi University in 1972
Honorary Degree from Brandeis University in 1973
Honorary Degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1974
Honorary Degree from Hofstra University in 1976

Dr. Watson's published works include the following books:

Double Helix
The DNA Story, W H Freeman
Molecular Biology of the Gene
Molecular Biology of the Cell
Recombinant DNA: A Short Course

Things To Do

Visit the DNA Learning Center at http://vector.cshl.org/index1.html. Educational unit of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, offering a range of programs and materials in DNA science.