DNA Molecule Animation

DNA pioneer James Watson dies

James Watson, Who Helped Discover the Structure of DNA, is Dead at 97

James Dewey Watson, the molecular biologist whose work helped decode the structure of DNA, died on November 6, 2025, at a hospice in East Northport, N.Y.

· 4h · on MSN

James Watson, famous geneticist and Nobel Prize co-winner in the structure of DNA, dies at 97

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James D. Watson, Nobel Prize-winning co-discoverer of the DNA molecule’s structure, dies at 97

Las Vegas Sun · 3h

James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix shape of DNA, has died at age 97

James D. Watson, whose co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped light the long fuse on a revolution in medicine, crimefighting, genealogy and ethics, has died.

· 4h

James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA’s double-helix structure, has died

· 2h

James Watson, Who Helped Discover DNA’s Double-Helix Structure, Dies at 97

PBS · 4h

James D. Watson, scientist who co-discovered DNA’s double-helix shape, dies at 97

That realization was a breakthrough.

· 3h

James Watson, co-discoverer of the shape of DNA, dies at 97

· 4h

DNA double-helix discoverer James Watson dies

James Watson helped crack DNA’s code, sparking medical advances and ethical debates

On a foggy Saturday morning in 1953, a tall, skinny 24-year-old man fiddled with shapes he had cut out of cardboard. They represented fragments of a DNA molecule, and young James Watson was trying to figure how they fit together in a way that let DNA do its job as the stuff of genes.

In Pictures: The race to discover the secrets of DNA

Photos and letters show how James Watson and Francis Crick raced to uncover the double helix structure of DNA.

Nanowerk

DNA: The Blueprint of Life

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material found in nearly all living organisms. It carries the genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth, and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses. DNA is a complex ...