Insta
Nobel Winning DNA Pioneer Reiterates Genes Cause Difference In IQ Tests Of Blacks And Whites, Stripped Of Titles
Swarajya Staff
Jan 21, 2019, 12:17 PM | Updated 12:16 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Ninety-year-old Nobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson has been stripped of his honorary titles by a leading American research institution after reiterating his own scientific conclusion linking race and intelligence, BBC reported.
In a recent TV programme, the pioneer in DNA studies once again firmly stood by his view that genes cause a difference between blacks and whites in IQ tests.
In 2007, Watson was suspended from all of his positions held at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for his controversial claim about the "inherently gloomy" future of the African continent.
“All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really,” he told the Times newspaper at the time.
After those remarks, Watson was fired from his job as chancellor at the laboratory and also divested from all his administrative duties. He subsequently wrote an apology and managed to retain his honorary titles of chancellor emeritus, Oliver R Grace professor emeritus and honorary trustee.
Watson was recently asked in a PBS documentary, titled American Masters: Decoding Watson, whether his views about race and intelligence have changed, he replied that they haven’t.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory said the 90-year-old scientist's remarks were "unsubstantiated and reckless".
"Dr Watson's statements are reprehensible, unsupported by science," the laboratory said in a statement, adding that they effectively reversed his apology.
Watson catapulted to international scientific fame in 1953 after helping discover DNA's double helix structure with fellow geneticists Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick. In 1962, the team was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology “for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material.”
In 1968 Watson began serving as director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, subsequently assumed the roles of president and chancellor, before being suspended and retiring from the research lab in 2007.
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.