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James Watson: Scientist loses titles after claims over race
Nobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson has been stripped of his honorary titles after repeating comments about race and intelligence.
In a TV programme, the pioneer in DNA studies made a reference to a view that genes cause a difference on average between blacks and whites on IQ tests. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory said the 90-year-old scientist's remarks were "unsubstantiated and reckless". Dr Watson had made similar claims in 2007 and subsequently apologised.
He shared the Nobel in 1962 with Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick for their 1953 discovery of the DNA's double helix structure.
Dr Watson sold his gold medal in 2014, saying he had been ostracised by the scientific community after his remarks about race. He is currently in a nursing home recovering from a car accident and is said to have "very minimal" awareness of his surroundings.
Previously: Disgraced Scientist is Selling his Nobel Prize
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by fakefuck39 on Monday January 14 2019, @05:02AM (1 child)
so if someone were to give you a gold medal worth thousands of dollars you would say no thanks? heck, I'm quite well off, but if someone were to give me a $20 bill, why would I say no? see, this is why he is why he discovered that dna is a double helix, and you - well you're just an idiot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @06:05PM
Because these prizes come with strings attached. There is an implicit approval of the prize-giving organization when accepting it. Personally I would have just said all the "offensive" stuff during the acceptance speech and offered to give it back right away Give them 10 days or something.