Something of a wild man - James Watson, the Nobel-Prize-winning DNA researcher, has made some (more) provocative remarks. Dr Watson told The Sunday Times that he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "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 said there was a natural desire that all human beings should be equal but "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true". [more inside]
posted by Kirth Gerson on Oct 17, 2007 - 130 comments

The papers of Francis Crick have been published online by the National Library of Medicine. The highlight of the collection is undoubtedly Crick's original sketch of the structure of DNA, but there are plenty of other fascinating items, including Crick's hostile comments on the manuscript of James Watson's book The Double Helix. (He later wrote to Watson that "if I had known you were going to write the sort of book you have written, I would never have collaborated with you".) For those who don't have time to browse the whole collection, images of selected highlights can also be found here, on the website of the Wellcome Trust, which bought the papers for $2.4 million in order to keep them in the public domain.
posted by verstegan on Mar 4, 2005 - 9 comments

Stupidity should be cured, says DNA discoverer. "People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would be great."
posted by ColdChef on Feb 28, 2003 - 22 comments