Duncan James Watson: Who is James D. Watson's son?

Publish date: 2024-05-17

Duncan James Watson is the son of James D. Watson. Duncan James Watson’s father is a Nobel Prize-winning DNA scientist. The molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist is best known for co-authoring with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries.

Duncan James Watson: Bio Summary

Full Name	Duncan James Watson
famous as	Son of James D. Watson
Age	51 years old as of 2023
Date of Birth	1972
Place of Birth	United States of America
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	Caucasian
Siblings	Rufus Robert Watson
Parents	James D. Watson, Elizabeth Watson

Who is James D. Watson’s son Duncan?

Duncan James Watson was born in 1972 in the United States of America. As of 2023, he is 51 years old. He is the son of James D. Watson and his wife Elizabeth Watson. Duncan James is the youngest child of the couple. He has an elder brother- whose name is Rufus Robert Watson.

ALSO, READ; Who is Elizabeth Watson, James Watson’s wife?

His father is Nobel Prize Recipient

In 1962, James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Watson and Crick shared the prize with Wilkins in recognition of his initial work on X-ray diffraction, as well as his follow-up work in verifying the double helix model they proposed.

A key piece of data that led to Watson and Crick’s discovery was one of X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin’s photographs of DNA. Rosalind Franklin does not receive a posthumous prize. Nobel Prize rules prohibit splitting prizes more than three ways.

Duncan James Watson’s brother is diagnosed with schizophrenia

Duncan’s elder brother Rufus was diagnosed with schizophrenia while a teenager. His father brings together the world’s leading geneticists to discuss the possibility of mapping the human genome. However, the senior Watson misses the seminal meeting to be with his eldest son Rufus, who is experiencing symptoms of psychosis related to his schizophrenia.

Duncan’s elder brother slipped out of the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in White Plains, where he had been for six months, after telling his father he planned to run away. He had been committed there after trying to break a window in the World Trade Center to jump to his death. The leading scientist said his passion for the Human Genome Project was largely inspired by his family and his need to understand the genetic basis of mental illness- PBS reported.

ALSO, READ; Rufus Robert Watson, What happened to James D. Watson’s son?

Where is James D. Watson’s son now?

James D. Watson’s son Duncan James Watson is not as popular as his father. He has been living a very private life and not much is known about him. Duncan’s father loses titles after claims over race. In 2007, Rufus Robert Watson’s father told the Times newspaper 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”. While his hope was that everybody was equal, he added, “people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true” BBC reported.