'I have been much blessed' - Watson retires - October 25, 2007
In the wake of his incendiary comments about race and intelligence, James Watson has retired from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The full text of his resignation letter is below the fold. CSHL have also issued a statement and Nature’s editorial on this is now available to all.
Statement of Dr. James D. Watson
This morning I have conveyed to the Trustees of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory my desire to retire immediately from my position as its Chancellor, as well as from my position on its Board, on which I have served for the past 43 years. Closer now to 80 than 79, the passing on of my remaining vestiges of leadership is more than overdue. The circumstances in which this transfer is occurring, however, are not those which I could ever have anticipated or desired.
That the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is now one of the world's premier sites for biological research and education has long warmed my heart. So I am grateful that its Board now will allow me to remain along my beloved Bungtown Road. Forty-nine years ago, as a newly appointed young Assistant Professor at Harvard, I gave my first course on this pernicious collection of diseases of uncontrolled cell growth and division. Cancer, then an intellectual black box, now, in part because of research at the Laboratory, is almost full lit. Though important facts remain undiscovered, there is no reason why they should not soon be found. Final victory is within our grasp. Strong in spirit and intensely focused, I wish to be among those at the victory line.
The ever quickening advances of science made possible by the success of the Human Genome Project will also soon let us see the essences of mental disease. Only after we understand them at the genetic level can we rationally seek out appropriate therapies for such illnesses as schizophrenia and bipolar disease. For the children of my sister and me, this moment can not come a moment too soon. Hell does not come close to describing the impact of psychotic disorders on human life.
This week's events focus me ever more intensely on the moral values passed on to me by my father, whose Watson surname marks his long ago Scots-Irish Appalachian heritage; and by my mother, whose father, Lauchlin Mitchell, came from Glasgow and whose mother, Lizzie Gleason, had parents from Tipperary. To my great advantage, their lives were guided by a faith in reason; an honest application of its messages; and for social justice, especially the need for those on top to help care for the less fortunate. As an educator, I have always striven to see that the fruits of the American Dream are available to all.
I have been much blessed.
James D. Watson
One Bungtown Road
Cold Spring Harbor, New York
October 2007
Comments
It's difficult to determine what is more prominent his unforgettable mistake or the price he paid… Nevertheless, He should be remembered as one of the pioneer in modern biological science.
Posted by: Puneet Khandelwal | October 25, 2007 08:06 PM
This should be an occasion for the Laboratory to address rather than sidestep the topic (but of course they won't--what institute would ever go near this hot potato?). In anthropologist John Hawkes words: "I think it's a pity they decided to issue this CYA statement instead of something genuinely meaningful. Why don't they devote one of their prestigious meetings to the topic of intelligence and race? Not a mere show trial, but a real encounter leading to (one or more) real accessible publications. We need less grandstanding, fewer sound bites, and more promotion of scientific reasoning.
In the early days, their symposia included anthropologists as well as geneticists, but when I went to one around 10 years ago, it was clear that the old days had changed. Now you can see from the 2008 scheduled meetings there is not a single human-focused topic. They need desperately to revive their connection to evolutionary biology and human evolution in particular. Topics that actually concern society seem like a good start. "
Posted by: tom merle | October 26, 2007 01:39 AM
It Is a High Time to Turn Biology into a New Page
While it is very sad that a highly decorated scientist actually ended his professional career in such an infamous way it is indeed a blessing for science that Dr. Watson decided to retire.
Although the correct identification of DNA structure is indeed a single most important biological discovery so far recognized over-half-a-century enjoyment over a single lucky discovery is more than anything that a hard-working scientist can dream of. There is no doubt that history will still remember James Watson as an icon for genetics. But overtime people may also realize that Watson’s over-emphasis on genetics and his ignorance of other discoveries [1] might in fact impeded the full-spectrum advance in biology but also contributed to his going overboard into some pseudo-science [2].
Thanks Watson for poking society to such an extent that not only resulted in a huge political back fire but also likely will led to a turn of biology into a new page [3, 4].
Shi V. Liu
Eagle Institute of Molecular Medicine
Apex, NC 27502
SVL@logibio.com
References
1. Liu, SV. 2007. A revelation of repeated disappointments with James Watson. Pioneer 2: 36-38.
2. Liu, SV. 2007. Watson slips on his own genetics-based view and Darwinism. Top Watch 2: 69-71.
3. Liu, SV. 2006. New biology: Old terms yet new concepts. Pioneer 1: 49-51.
4. Liu, SV. 2006. Revisit semi-conservative DNA replication and immortal DNA strand hypothesis. Logical Biology 6: 54-61.
* All above articles can be found at the Truthfinding Cyberpress website http://im1.biz
Posted by: Shi V. Liu | October 26, 2007 01:56 AM