James Watson

About

Molecular biologist who co-discovered the double helix structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick. Nine years later, in 1962, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his revolutionary work.

Before Fame

He studied at the University of Chicago and Indiana University before joining the staff at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in England, where he first met his future collaborator and friend Francis Crick.

Trivia

From 1988 to 1992, he was associated with the National Institutes of Health, where he helped establish the Human Genome Project, an international scientific research project with the goal of mapping out the total genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional standpoint.

Family Life

He married Elizabeth Watson in 1968.

Associated With

He was influenced by fellow nobel laureate Madame Curie.