In 1869, Swiss scientist Friedrich Miescher isolated a mysterious substance from cell nuclei—an overlooked finding that would later reshape biology and our understanding of life itself. A ...

“The laws of inheritance are quite unknown,” Charles Darwin acknowledged in 1859. The discovery of DNA’s shape altered how we conceived of life itself. The X-ray crystallography by Rosalind Franklin ...

James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of DNA has died at age 97. He was a scientific superstar until he made racist remarks that made him an outcast.

James Dewey Watson, whose co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped launch a revolution in biology and medicine, died Thursday at age 97. He died in hospice care after a brief ...

For James Watson, DNA was everything — not just his life's work, but the secret of life itself. Over his long and storied career, Watson arguably did more than any other scientist to transform a ...

"DNA was no mere discovery," says Howard Markel, a historian who wrote a book on how Watson, Crick, Franklin and others uncovered this molecule's structure. "It's a light switch moment." In his ...

"I think this is because Watson is shunned, and so also his book is shunned, and his treatment of Rosalind Franklin has become unbearable for students. James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of ...