His son reported that James Watson died in a hospice, where he was transferred from the hospital, where he was being treated for an infectious disease.
Watson, along with Francis Crick, discovered the structure of DNA in 1953 and became one of the leading scientists of the 20th century. In 1962, they, along with Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
In 2007, Watson became the second person in the world whose genome was fully sequenced.
Since the 1990s, Watson has expressed a number of controversial opinions, claiming that there are differences in intellectual abilities between white and black people, which led to the loss of several honorary titles.
