James D. Watson
James D. Watson was born in Chicago in 1928.
He co-discovered DNA's double helix structure at age 25, earning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 alongside Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins.
Watson earned his B.Sc. in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1947 and his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1950.
His bird-watching hobby sparked his genetics interest.
He joined Harvard's Biology Department in 1956, became director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1968, and launched the Human Genome Project in 1989.
Watson was an outspoken atheist who believed scientific understanding trumped religious faith.
