James Watson

By: Keasia Johnson

James Watson was born on April 6, 1928 and is currently

still living.

Who was James Watson?

He attended High School In Chicago and received a
scholarship from the University of Chicago. He began
the study of Zoology in 1943. At the University of Chicago
he developed an interest in genetics. Once he
graduated, he went to further his education at Indiana
University. He continued research on bacteriophages and
became interested in knowing how DNA reacted to the
viruses.

What Did James Watson Do?

He was an American molecular biologist.James Watson
along with Francis Crick and Rosalind Franklin came
up with the discovery of the double helix (twisted
ladder) structure of DNA which gave rise to modern
biology. Because of this achievement, they won the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962.

Evidence
Its believed that James Watson and Francis
Crick got their evidence from Rosalind Franks
research. Rosalinds friend showed Watson and
Crick the data which confirmed what James
and Francis had believed. This was how they
came up with the 3-D structure of DNA.

Publications
James Watson and Francis Crick published their
findings in the British Scientific weekly Nature on
April 25, 1953. It was named A Structure For
Deoxyribose Nucleic. There was a picture included
on the one page spread illustrated by the wife of
Francis Crick.

Contributions to Evolution
Evolution is the theory that all common things are related
to one another through common descent from the
earliest form of life. The explanation for the
inheritance of traits was the missing factor for the
theory of evolution. It explained how traits were
inherited and mutations in DNA showed how variations
appeared in offsprings genetics.

Available Technology
There was a lot of available technology during this period
of time, which included:
Tvs
Video Recorders
Cars
Solar Powered Electronics
Computers
Microchip

Major World Events

During James Watsons studies, there were a lot of
things going on in the world .
James first began his studies in 1943 and during this
time, World War 2 was still going on.
When James Watson partnered up with many other
scientists to find out what the DNA molecule looked like,
the Cold War was taking place.

Our Goal Should Be To Understand Our Differences

-James Watson
Today The Theory Of Evolution Is accepted By Everyone But A
Fundamentalist Minority Whose Objections Are Based Not On
Reasoning But On Doctrinaire Adherence To Religious Principles.
- James Watson

Resources
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_22
http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_1.htm
http://www.slate.
com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/12/james_wa
tson_selling_nobel_prize_dna_structure_discoverer_s_